First Time
by robertwnielsen
Summary: Michael is captured in East Germany, and Hawke is forced to bring Caitlin onto the crew after he and Dom are injured in a flying stunt.  Told from the POV's of all major characters.
1. Chapter 1 Caitlin

_First Time_

A/N – This is an original idea, based around the S2 episode _Fallen Angel, _and, like _And **WHEN** Was The Wedding, _it will be told from several different points of view. Hope somebody enjoys it – robertwnielsen

Disclaimer – As usual, I don't own 'em. Just taking 'em out to play again...no profit made.

_Summary – _Michael is captured in East Germany, and Hawke is forced to bring Caitlin onto the crew after he and Dom are injured in a flying stunt.

_Chap 1 – Cait_

_Where is he taking me? _I asked myself, since I couldn't see a doggoned thing. Not that I'm in any danger, far from it. It's just that I'm completely blind—thanks to a large black scarf that String tied over my eyes a few minutes ago. It's probably the one time I've been blindfolded and not scared to death 'cause I've been kidnapped, which happened a couple times while I was on the Texas Highway Patrol. But this time, I feel perfectly safe. I'm just confused as all get out.

I remembered seein' that woman—the dark, exotic-looking one in the hospital, walk into Dom and Hawke's room—they got hurt doin' some kinda flying stunt. Dom's in a full body cast, and String broke one arm—and Dom's not too thrilled about the fact that Hawke is practically unscathed, either. But, this strange woman—I thought she was a doctor, even though she certainly wasn't _dressed _like one, came in and said she needed to examine Hawke and Dom. Dom tried to stop me from leaving, but this woman acted like she didn't want me around. So I went and got some coffee, and by the time I got back, the stranger was gone, and I asked what the doctor had to say. Then, Hawke handed me a duffel bag and told me there was a change of clothes in there. So I went into the ladies' room and changed into what I discovered was a very dull-grey colored jumpsuit of some sort. Once I got it on, I was even more surprised—it fit, although it was a little snug, but not uncomfortably so. Then I remembered where I'd seen that lady before—a couple of weeks ago, she'd called the hangar lookin' for me, and sent a limousine to pick me up. She introduced herself as "Marella," but didn't mention her last name, which rubbed me as kinda weird. We went to a fashionable boutique I had heard about, and I was surprised when someone came out and spoke to Marella, then took my measurements without a word. When I asked Marella about it later, she responded with, "Just in case." I know she was a little surprised when I didn't act like I recognized her, but I got the feelin' when she came into the room that she was hoping I wouldn't recognize her. So, I decided not to let her know that I had. Anyway, the next thing I knew, when I had changed clothes and came back to the hospital room, Hawke and I went out to the Jeep, where he promptly tied a thick black scarf over my eyes, and who knows where the heck we're going now.

_But I've got a funny feelin', _I thought to myself. I can't help but wonder if all this—Marella, the mysterious trip to take my measurements, and now this ride I'm takin' with Hawke—is all somehow connected to that black battleship with the rotors—the one Hawke and Dom deny exists. But I _know better—_I've seen it in action, for cryin' out loud, back home in Pope County, Texas, when it blew up the county jail, the sheriff, and half the cowboys in town. Not that I'll miss Bogan, mind you. I mean, the guy was weird, not to mention cruel, but when I saw that ship, I knew there was a lot more to Stringfellow Hawke than met the eye, which is why I packed up my stuff and headed out to California a couple days after they left. I just knew I had to find him. And I sure as heck didn't think it'd be that difficult to find someone with a name like 'Stringfellow Hawke,' but I ended up having to dial the first 300 "S. Hawkes" in the phone book before I finally found the one I was lookin' for.

So now, I feel the Jeep slow down, and once I figure out that Hawke has turned the engine off, I feel him gently take my arm and help me out of the Jeep. We turn and it feels like we're walkin' back the way we just came, which _really _makes me think this has somethin' to do with that helicopter—if you could call that thing a helicopter—that ship definitely looked military to me.

I couldn't help but wonder why the heck Stringfellow Hawke had a military-style helicopter. I mean, he didn't seem like the type of guy who would have a machine like _that. _But, there's a lot I don't know about Hawke, even though I think I _want_ to know about him. There's just somethin' about him. I guess it's his eyes. Those ice-blue eyes. I swear, I've gotten _lost_ in those eyes on more than one occasion, and I suddenly feel Hawke stop, and hear a loud hiss, like a door opening. Hawke gently helps me step up, then I feel his hand sit me down somewhere.

Next thing I know, I'm hearing all kinds of noises—beeps, clicks, and what sounds like rotors starting up. I still can't see anything, though, and Hawke's not talkin'. Even less than usual—it dawns on me that he hasn't said word one since we left the hospital. But now, it feels like we're moving again—straight up. _That's weird,_ I said to myself, then realized we must be in an elevator or something. _But then, why am I sitting down? _I asked myself, growing more confused by the second. And that's a feeling I don't like—confusion. Being a former Texas Highway Patrol officer, I always prided myself on knowing what was goin' on _all the time. _But from the minute I felt that blindfold cover my eyes after Hawke and I left the hospital, I've been confused. And I _don't like it._

Now I notice that the upward feeling has stopped, and it feels like we're moving forward again, but too fast to be walking, and I know we aren't in the Jeep anymore. I sat quietly for a few minutes, but my curiosity finally got the better of me. "_I knew it. I just knew it,_" I said, but my own voice sounded strange to my ears, ike it was coming through a microphone or something.

"_Knew what?" _Hawke demanded. He sounded like he was in front of me, which made this whole thing seem even weirder.

"_Oh, come on, String, quit teasing! Can I take this blindfold off now?" _I demanded.

"_Yeah, we're out of the area," _Hawke said. I reached up and, after a few seconds, pulled the black material away from my eyes—which immediately grew to the size of silver dollars as I looked at the largest array of switches, levers, buttons, and keys I had ever seen in my _life. Which explains all the beeping and clicking I was hearing. Callum would go _**bonkers **_if he could see this,_ I said to myself, thinking of one of my brothers, who was a complete gadget and military nerd. _Heck, he could probably tell me what half these things do, just by lookin' at 'em. _And I suddenly realized that it wasn't a _jumpsuit_ that I was wearing, it was a _flight suit, _and my emotions got the better of me.

"_Oh, wow! Oh, boy! String, I knew it! I _**told you **_I knew it!" _I shouted triumphantly.

"_Fine," _Hawke said angrily, _"and you're gonna _**forget it**, _just as soon as this mission's over, right?"_

"_Right,"_ I said, meekly, even though I had no intention of forgetting what I was seeing. _Even if I _**wanted to, **_I couldn't forget somethin' like this,_ I said to myself. _This is the reason I came here! Well, one of the reasons, anyway. Hawke bein' the other one, of course. But my feelings about him are another story entirely. _I forced myself to listen when I heard Hawke's voice again.

"_All right. Lesson number one. There's a target selection screen right next to the main panel."_

I discovered the chair I was sitting in was on swivel mounts, and I quickly turned around to my right, feeling my way along the console until I saw what Hawke was talkin' about. _"Got it."_

"_The program keys above are used to call up any weapons required. We have access to all 14 weapons, as long as we're not at Mach 1. Now, say for instance, I call for a Hellfire."_

I found the correct button and pressed it. _"Okay. Hellfire." _I heard what sounded like an alarm squealing as soon as I pressed the button.

"_Caitlin! Deploy the pods!" _Hawke shouted.

"_Where? Where is it?"_ I answered him, fighting a wave of panic.

"_Release the missile chamber. Top button above the fire..."_

"_Oh! Got it, got it." _I pressed the correct buttons as Hawke shouted, _"Hold on!" _and I felt the helicopter pull into a steep climb just a few seconds before I saw the explosion.

"_Ooh!"_ I realized that _we _could have been in that explosion, if Hawke hadn't told me what to do. _Okay. No more touching buttons,_ I said to myself.

"_You could have killed us!"_ Hawke shouted from the front seat.

Meekly, I replied, _"I'm sorry."_

"_Sorry doesn't cut it—this is no Highway Patrol chopper! I don't want you touching _**anything**_ until I've thoroughly explained it!"_ Hawke said emphatically.

"_Right," _I said, still frightened. But I was as frightened about what _Hawke_ might do as I was about what almost happened. I mean, I know String's got a temper, and I _also_ know that what I just did had put me square on the wrong side of it. _Dumb, dumb, DUMB, Caity girl! _I said to myself.

"_The point is, Caitlin, it's gonna take me a week to familiarize you with these controls."_

"_Does that mean we're not goin'?" _I asked, hesitantly.

"_No," _Hawke said with a sigh, and I thought I heard his voice soften a little. _"It just means I'm gonna have to find some way to put Dom's brain into your body."_

Not exactly sure how I should take that, I responded, _"But just don't do it the other way around."_ I swear I heard String chuckle at that statement.

I wished to heck I knew what Hawke was thinkin' at that point. I mean, I know how mysterious Hawke is, 'specially where it concerned this 'Michael' guy. Sounded like some kinda government honcho to me. Maybe he's got somethin' to do with this machine we're flyin' in. I just don't know.

"_Hawke?"_ I asked, still uncertain about everything.

"_Yeah?" _He responded.

"_What the heck is going on here?"_ I demanded. _"You blindfolded me, took me God-only-knows where, and now I'm sitting in a machine that looks like something you'd find in Darth Vader's bedroom! Look, I know you don't know me from Adam, and I don't know you real well, either. __B__ut if we're gonna do whatever it is we're gonna do, then I'm gonna need to know a few things. Y'know?" _I hoped to heck that I hadn't upset Hawke too much—if I had, he was just liable to drop me in the middle of nowhere.

The silence that followed danged near drove me nuts. I was about to say something else when Hawke spoke up. _"Yeah," _he replied, then proceeded to tell me, on the condition that I swore not to discuss this with anybody else, about the government agency known as the FIRM, and its director, Michael Coldsmith-Briggs III, who Hawke calls "Archangel." Apparently, this helicopter belongs to this "FIRM," and Hawke is keeping it until Archangel finds Hawke's brother (his name sounds like Sin Jin, but I don't think that's how you spell it.), who's MIA from Vietnam.

"_Archangel's a prisoner in East Germany," _Hawke was saying. _"He went in there to rescue a woman __named Maria von__ Fuerster, who made the KGB 'white list.'"_

"_'White list'?" _I asked. _"Never heard of such a thing. What the heck is it?"_

"_The Russian version of a top-20 hit list. You can think of it as a top-20 most wanted list. It's pretty much the same thing, only the people on a 'white list' just disappear. And now, Michael's there, and he's probably as wanted as von Fuerster is."_

This whole thing was becomin' more and more frightening. _"So we're goin' to..."_

"_East Germany," _Hawke said, and I felt my heart leap straight into my throat. This _definitely _sounded like something right out of a James Bond movie, or maybe one of those Tom Clancy novels I've heard Callum likes so much. Definitely _not_ something that a small-town girl from Pope County, Texas oughta be involved in. _But whether he wants to admit it or not, Hawke needs me,_ I said to myself as I glanced around the cockpit. _Mr. Santini's in no shape to help him. _I resolved then and there to do whatever String or Mr. Santini told me to do. Finally, Hawke said, "Okay. You ready to go over the weapons systems again?"

"Ready, Hawke." I said, glancing at the main panel. For the next two hours, Hawke patiently explained every one of the weapons systems aboard this helicopter, including how to deploy them. By the time he set the helicopter down and put the blindfold back over my eyes, I thought I had a pretty good idea of how to run things.

When we stopped after a while and Hawke took the blindfold off, he said, _"Cait, __look. I—I'm __sorry for snapping at you back there. I mean, heck, Dom didn't know what most of the knobs and buttons were for the first time he flew in Airwolf, either. Actually, it took him two or three times flying in Airwolf before he knew everything back there as well as he does now."_ Hawke smiled as if he was recalling something, then his voice turned serious again. _"But, remember..."_

"_I know," _I said._ "Keep it to myself." _Then I added,_ "And by the way, Hawke, apology accepted."_

"_Right," _Hawke said, and I thought he was feeling more comfortable with bringing me into whatever the heck he'd brought me into. _"And, thanks,"_ he added hesitantly.

But, it evidently wasn't good enough, 'cause Hawke decided he was gonna bust Mr. Santini out of the hospital and take him with us to rescue Archangel.

"_Oh, no you don't!" _The nurse insisted as Hawke and I tried to maneuver Mr. Santini's wheelchair out of the hospital room.

"_Cait? She's yours," _Hawke said, gesturing to the nurse.

"_Mine?" _I asked, then I realized what Hawke wanted me to do. The nurse was saying something about not leaving without a doctor's authorization, and I apologized for what I was about to do as Hawke moved Mr. Santini's wheelchair towards the door.

"_I'm sorry, nurse!"_ I shouted, executing a perfect judo flip and landing the nurse in Mr. Santini's bed as Hawke pushed Mr. Santini out. And just like that, we were all back aboard Airwolf, and headed into East Germany—and I was scared clean out of my wits.

By the time Hawke had gone into the fortress to get Michael, I realized there _was_ another reason Hawke wanted Mr. Santini along—somebody had to fly Airwolf and provide a distraction while Hawke went in to rescue Michael. I mean, I'd learned a little bit about the rear console when Hawke first put me in this helicopter, and I learned a lot more during that mission, with Mr. Santini coaching me, but there was no way I could've _flown _this bird, especially with that kind of firepower shooting back at us. And, I learned somethin' else about the helicopter that I didn't know—it was bulletproof. Hawke and Michael finally came out, and I heard Michael shouting to someone named Maria. Then, there was a series of gunshots, and the next thing I knew, we were all headed away from the castle.

A few days later, Mr. Santini, Hawke and I were at the FIRM headquarters, when Michael came back with the mysterious woman I remembered seeing from the hospital, who had introduced herself as "Marella." _Why didn't she tell me who she was before?_ I asked myself as we entered the conference room. I sure hoped that 'Marella' knew that I was just a bit ticked off as I watched her and Michael enter the room. _If she doesn't, __then __I'll just have to explain it to her. _There was a polite smattering of applause from everyone in the room as Michael took his seat at one end of a long table, facing a man at the other end who I did not recognize.

"_Welcome home, Archangel." The strange man said. "I'm afraid we were going to have to write you off for good, this time."_

"_I always seem to make it back, Zeus," Michael said, and I realized "Zeus" must be the name of the man at the end of the table nearest to Hawke, Mr. Santini, and me. Michael continued, "However this time, I did have just a _**little bit **_of help." He nodded at Hawke, Dom and me._

"_Yes. Miss O'Shannessy, Mr. Hawke, Mr. Santini. We want to thank you for your bravery and valor." I felt a surge of pride at being mentioned by this man, as well as being included in the operation, and then 'Zeus' continued. "Marella, however, will have to be suspended, until a review board can determine whether she is capable of following orders."_

"_Of all the hypocritical bull!" Dom shouted. Hawke tried to silence his friend. "Hey, Dom!"_

"_Aah! Well, somebody has to tell this egotistical bag of hot air where to go!" I could tell Mr. Santini was getting agitated._

"_Dominic, he's right! Rules are rules!" Marella said from her position next to Michael._

"_If you believe that, then you're as sick as he is!" Dom shot back._

"_If she believed it, she wouldn't have come to you and Hawke!" Michael shouted._

"_This interview is _**over," **_Zeus stated, as coldly as I'd ever heard another man speak._

"_Not quite! I want my staff back, and full access to FIRM facilities. That means _**complete restoration **_of my division, _**including Marella," **_Michael said._

"_I said the interview is _**over," **_Zeus repeated, and his voice seemed to me to grow even colder._

"_I think your title has gone to your head, Zeus!" Michael shouted._

"_That's enough!" Zeus shouted back, and I have to admit...I was getting dizzy from this back and forth...reminded me of a tennis match that I saw on TV._

"_No, it's _**not enough! **_You would've left me out there to _**rot, **_after 20 years of loyalty!" Michael roared, angry as I've ever heard any man sound, including Hawke. _

"_Those are the rules, Michael. _**You **_helped create them! And now that I'm head of the FIRM, _**I'm **_here to enforce them!" Zeus shouted back, and angrily pointed at the desk to emphasize his point._

_Michael and Zeus stared at each other across the table for a moment, then Michael reached into his jacket, pulled out a 9mm pistol, and calmly shot Zeus. Everyone in the room began to panic, and four men I guessed were security guards rushed in, two grabbing hold of Marella and the other two grabbing Michael. "Michael Coldsmith-Briggs..." one of the guards began, and I knew Michael was being arrested—I recognized the beginning of the Miranda speech. Heck, I've delivered it enough times myself. But then one of the other guards noticed Zeus beginning to move._

"_I—I'm all right," Zeus stammered. "What happened?"_

"_I'll answer that," Hawke said, stepping forward. "Michael had been programmed to try to assassinate you, Zeus. That was part of what happened to him in East Germany. I figured it out after we escaped—it was too easy. Either Kinskov has the worst gunners in the world, or they weren't trying to hit Airwolf. They _**wanted **_us to escape, so that Michael could come back here and kill you, and probably a few more members of the Committee. Once I realized what was going on, I substituted blanks for the ammo in Michael's gun."_

"_Thank you, Hawke," Michael said, shaking his head. "That's two more I owe you."_

"_I'll send you a bill," Hawke said, and I swore I saw him grin. Then Michael made a proposition that startled the heck outta me—he wanted to go _**back **_to East Germany and get the formulas and research for Kinskov's mind control, and to get Maria out if he could. Surprisingly, at least to me, Zeus agreed, but I decided there was something I needed to do. As soon as the room had emptied, I approached Marella._

Just before we left, I walked up to Marella and said, "_We_ need to talk. Right _now._" I noticed the room was empty, so Marella quickly locked the doors so no one could disturb us, and said, "All right. I do owe you an apology, Caitlin. I should have mentioned something about who I work with when we met before."

"You're darned right you should have!" I shot back, and I noticed Marella had become nervous. "But, I guess it's okay, considering this is some kinda spy outfit," I said, and I saw she relaxed a little bit. Then I continued, "Lemme ask you somethin'—when you came to the hangar that time and we went to that boutique—was that how you had the right size for a flight suit for me?"

"Yes, Caitlin, it was," Marella admitted. "That particular boutique does a lot of clothing for us. Most of the female employees of the FIRM get our dresses and other work-related apparel there. When we learned that you had been hired by Dominic, I had a feeling that we might need that information. I just hadn't planned on using it for real, especially so soon."

I turned this information over in my mind for a few minutes, decided I could accept what Marella told me, and finally I said, "Okay, Marella. I guess it's just one more thing I've gotta learn." I really couldn't find any reason to dislike this woman. She seemed nice enough, even if she had pulled what my daddy would have called a little "shuck-and-jive" on me. I guessed I could understand it, though. Just like Hawke, Marella doesn't know me from Adam. And I'd be willing to bet she's not real sure she can trust me.

"Caitlin," Marella said, "there's no reason you need to continue any involvement with Hawke...or with us. Once this mission is over..."

"Just hold it right there," I said, and felt a spark coming into my eyes. "If you think for one second that I'm gonna forget about everything I saw, then you've got another think coming. And I told Michael the same thing."

"All right, Caitlin," Marella said. "Well, good luck again."

"Thanks, Marella," I said with a smile as she unlocked the doors and I hurried out to rejoin Hawke, Dom, and Michael.

_A few hours later, Michael and Hawke were back aboard Airwolf after infiltrating the castle, and we were on our way out of East Germany, after getting into a dogfight with the East German air force. Once we were safe, I couldn't help myself._

"_Scope's clean! Whoo-whee! Highway Patrol was _**never **_like that!" I exulted._

"_Like what?" Hawke demanded._

"_That dogfight!" I insisted. No way in hell were they gonna try and tell me that didn't happen._

"_What dogfight?" Mr. Santini piped up._

"_Oh, no you don't! This time, _**I've **_got a witness! Now, they can't tell me that..." I turned and saw Michael's expression through his flight helmet, and knew he had other things on his mind. Even though nobody had introduced him to me, I knew who he was, after seein' him tangle with that other man, Zeus. For some strange reason, I got the feelin' that hadn't been the first time Michael and Zeus had butted heads, either. But at this moment, I realized Michael needed to talk about something, even though I didn't know what. _

"_Michael, what's wrong?" I asked._

"_Maria's dead." Hawke answered._

"_She was working with Krueger all along," Michael said, and I could hear the sadness in his voice, and I realized Michael must have loved Maria very much. Almost as much as I think I love...I can't think about that now! "I'm sorry," I said, and hoped my tone of voice conveyed my feelings to Michael._

"_It couldn't be helped," Michael said. "I do know that, Hawke."_

_Hawke glanced back to Michael and me, and I swear I saw him nod at Michael. We flew on in silence for a few minutes, then Dom spoke up._

"_I don't know about you guys, but I'm _**hungry. **_Whataya say we stop off for some beer and bratwurst, huh?" Dom asked, trying to lighten the mood._

"_Where?" Hawke asked, and I thought I saw Michael smile at Dom's comment._

"_Well, I dunno," Dom replied. "Any place that's got beer and bratwurst, I suppose!"_

"_Yeah, we can discuss our next mission," I said._

"_What mission?" Michael asked._

"_Oh, you know! Whatever you assign them to do next in this helicopter!" I replied._

"_**WHAT HELICOPTER?**_" _Hawke, Michael, and Mr. Santini all demanded, practically in unison. I realized then just how secret this thing was supposed to be. Of course, Mr. Santini had told me as much when we went in the first time._

"_Avoid friendly fighters?" I had asked when I saw that we had received NATO patrol routes and frequencies, and Mr. Santini told me they were so we could avoid NATO fighters._

"_Honey, in Airwolf, we ain't got any friends! Remember that!" Mr. Santini had stated. I started wondering whether or not I really wanted to be involved with this part of Hawke's life. Then, I realized I already _**was **_involved, whether I liked it or not._

"_Ah, this must be Dom's new employee. Miss...O'Shannessy, correct?" Michael asked as the four of us sat at a small cafe. Airwolf was safely hidden away not far from where we were eating, and as Mr. Santini had hoped, they'd found a place that had beer and bratwurst. I had to admit the bratwurst was very good._

"_Sorry, Michael," Hawke said, shaking his head as he realized he'd never formally introduced us. "Michael Coldsmith-Briggs, this is Caitlin O'Shannessy. Caitlin, this is Michael. Or, as we call him, 'Archangel.'" I figured there was no mystery how Michael knew who I was—heck, he probably did a full background check on me as soon as he heard that Mr. Santini had hired me back at the airfield, but he'd never seen me face-to-face before. _

"_A pleasure, sir," I said, giving him a friendly smile._

"_Likewise, Miss O'Shannessy," Michael replied, shaking my hand. "And thank you for all your help. I don't know if Hawke could have pulled this one off without you."_

I have to admit, I blushed a little at that, especially when I considered what almost happened when Hawke first brought me aboard Airwolf. _But, Michael doesn't need to know about that. That part can remain Hawke's and my little secret. Unless Hawke decides to tell Mr. Santini about it._

"_You're welcome, sir," I said, not completely comfortable with knowing who Michael was._

"_Miss O'Shannessy," Michael began again, and I felt compelled to say something._

"_Please, call me Caitlin," I said, not wanting to stand too much on formality. At least, where I was concerned. _

"_Fine, Caitlin. But, if we're not going to stand on formalities, please don't call me 'sir.' Neither Hawke nor Dominic does, after all. You may call me 'Michael,' or 'Archangel,' if you like. Caitlin, I hope you realize what Hawke has involved you in. And, I don't think I have to tell you to keep everything that happened, and everything you saw, between the four of us. Actually, the five of us, if you count Marella," Michael said. And somethin' about the way he added that as an afterthought got me curious about how Michael feels about Marella, but I decided I'd worry about that later._

"_No, Michael, you don't," I replied. "I know that what happened, and what I saw, has to be our little secret, and I accept that. I just hope you don't expect me to up and forget what I saw." _

"_Well, I won't say that it wouldn't bother me if you did forget about Airwolf, me, and everything you've seen, but I don't think that's possible," Michael said with a grin directed at me. "But, I have to say, you handled yourself as well as I've ever seen under the circumstances. Hawke and Dom must have taught you very well."_

"_They did," I said with a smile directed at Hawke._

By the time we were back home, I knew I wouldn't be forgetting about everything that had happened any time soon. And, I made a decision—I _wanted _to be involved with that part of Hawke's life. I figured, if it helped me get closer to Hawke, it would be worth whatever danger I might be putting myself in. _And, I'm a cop, _I said to myself. _At least, I used to be a cop. But, I'm also a martial arts expert—I __can take care of myself. _That night when I went to sleep, I felt a peace that I hadn't felt in a long time. Sure, I still had a lot of questions, but I figured I'd be getting the answers in time. Then, something I'd thought about earlier hit me again. _A__lmost as much as I think I love...Hawke,_ I finished the thought that started when I asked Michael what was wrong, back aboard Airwolf. _I do love him. I love Stringfellow Hawke! _Then I thought some more. _Well, maybe "love" is too strong...I don't really know him that well yet. But I do know this—I like him. __I like him __a LOT. And it wouldn't surprise me if it became "love" before long. I've just gotta be patient,_ I said to myself as I fell asleep, _And everything will work out._


	2. Chapter 2 Hawke

_First Time_

A/N – This is an original idea, based around the S2 episode _Fallen Angel, _and, like _And **WHEN** Was The Wedding, _it will be told from several different points of view. Hope somebody enjoys it – robertwnielsen

Disclaimer – As usual, I don't own 'em. Just taking 'em out to play again...no profit made.

_Summary – _Michael is captured in East Germany, and Hawke is forced to bring Caitlin onto the crew after he and Dom are injured in a flying stunt.

_Chap 2 – Hawke_

_I hope she hasn't figured out where we're going,_ I thought to myself as I headed out, away from the hospital where Dom and I've been laid up since that stunt went so wrong a couple of days ago. I probably would have stayed there, except that Marella, Michael's aide, and, I had begun to suspect, something more, had shown up in our room and told us that Archangel was a prisoner in East Germany. With Dom laid up in a body cast, and supposed to be in traction for the next month, getting Michael out wasn't going to be an easy task. Just then, I heard Caitlin's voice.

"_Hey, guys! What'd the doctor have to say?" _Our friend, Caitlin O'Shannessy, demanded almost immediately after Marella left the room. I exchanged a concerned look with Dom—Caitlin doesn't know about the Lady, yet, and in a perfect world, I'd keep it that way as long as humanly possible. Unfortunately, events seemed to have made keeping our Lady's existence a secret from Caitlin anymore _impossible._ _'Cause if Dom can't fly, then Caitlin's going to have to._

Fortunately, Marella had a flight suit altered to Caitlin's measurements—which I have absolutely _no idea_ how they got – it's not like Caitlin went to Knightsbridge after Dom hired her at the airfield. Oh, there's no doubt Michael and Marella both _know_ about her. Knowing Michael as well as I do, I guessed that he probably did a complete background check the minute he heard Dom had hired Caitlin. _But that wouldn't explain how they would have a flight suit that fit her, for Pete's sake. _I handed Caitlin the duffel bag Marella had brought, and Caitlin headed to the ladies' room to change. I wished to heck I didn't have to leave Dom behind. Something told me I was going to need him at some point. And besides, I know Dom.

_And Dom doesn't like not bein' in the Lady,_ I said to myself. _Not that I blame him. That thing is addictive. And I suppose, someday, we'll have to teach Caitlin to _**fly **_her, too. But, first things first. We've got to get through _**this**_ mission, alive, _I said to myself as I parked the Jeep about a mile away from the entrance to the Lair, then shut the motor off and hopped out, coming around to help Caitlin out of the Jeep, since she couldn't see, then hiking back to the entrance.

I hesitated a moment before we went inside, as if I were trying to communicate my discomfort with the situation to the Lady. _But that's ridiculous,_ I said to myself as I disarmed the security system and led Caitlin over to Airwolf. _Airwolf's a _**machine, **_for cryin' out loud, no matter what Dom says._ For the past few weeks, Dominic has been trying to convince me that Airwolf is _alive, _for lack of a better term. Shaking my head at the absurdity of it all, I popped the seal on the copilot's-side door and helped Caitlin inside, leading her to the EDCC console and sitting her in the chair, then moving to the commander's chair and beginning the preflight sequence.

As Airwolf's rotors spun up, something crossed my mind—_she hasn't said word one since we left the hospital. _And for Caitlin O'Shannessy, that's _weird. _I mean, that gal's about as hyperactive as a Texas tornado, and, she can talk rings around almost anyone I know, including Dom. So for her to have been silent _this long,_ I figure she's either scared to death, or trying to figure out what the heck is going on.

Finally, I grabbed the collective and cyclic, and began lifting Airwolf out of the Lair. I noticed the midday sun as we exited the top of the mountain, and pushed the nose over, gaining speed quickly. In a few moments, we're away from the Lair, and I began wondering how I'm supposed to start to teach Caitlin about Airwolf, especially if she's not talking.

"_I knew it. I just knew it,_" Caitlin's familiar Texas drawl came from the EDCC chair. _Well, that solves that problem, at least._ I said to myself, relieved that Caitlin had found her voice again.

"_Knew what?" _I demanded.

"_Oh, come on, String, quit teasing! Can I take this blindfold off now?"_ Now that Caitlin had _started_ talking, I began worrying how I was going to get her to _shut up._ But, I figured it was just her nerves talking.

Looking around, I said, _"Yeah. We're out of the area." _

"_Oh, wow! Oh, boy! String, I knew it! I _**told you **_I knew it!" _Caitlin shouted, and I distinctly heard the tone of triumph in her voice.

"_Fine,"_ I said angrily, _"and you're gonna _**forget it**, _just as soon as this mission's over, right?" _I demanded, probably a little more harshly than I meant to.

"_Right," _Caitlin answered back meekly, and I suspected she was wondering just exactly what she'd gotten herself into. I decided I'd better get started.

I toned my voice down before I began. _"All right. Lesson number one. There's a target selection screen right next to the main panel."_

"_Got it." _I heard a few seconds later. I realized I should have told her about the chair being on a swivel back there.

"_The program keys above are used to call up any weapons required," _I continued. _"We have access to all 14 weapons systems, as long as we're not at Mach 1. Now, say for instance, I call for a Hellfire."_

I heard a short beep a few seconds later, followed by an alarm squealing. _"Okay. Hellfire."_ Caitlin reported, but I knew the ADF pods hadn't been deployed.

"_Caitlin! Deploy the pods!" _I shouted.

"_WHERE? Where is it?" _she demanded, and I recognized the fear in her voice.

"_Release the missile chamber! Top button above the fire..."_

"_Oh! Got it, got it!" _Caitlin said, and I heard the button press a second later, followed by the silencing of the alarm.

"_Hold on!" _I ordered, pulling Airwolf into a steep climb and praying I'd be able to pull us clear of the impact. A few seconds later, the missile's impact registered on my scanner, and I heard Caitlin shout, _"Ooh!" _from behind me. I felt a combination of emotions—I was scared because we could have been _killed, _and I was _angry _that Caitlin had just gone and pressed the arming button for the Hellfires before I had a chance to explain the ADF pod deployment system.

"_You coulda killed us!"_ I shouted.

"_I'm SORRY!"_ Caitlin replied.

"_'Sorry' doesn't cut it, this is no highway patrol chopper! I don't want you touching _**anything, **_until I've thoroughly explained it!"_ I ordered.

"_Right," _Caitlin replied, and I thought she sounded like a child who had just been chewed out by her father. Heck, I thought _I _sounded like her father, chewing her out like that. I felt bad that I'd been so harsh, and made a mental note to apologize when this was over. _Besides, I still remember Dom saying, 'In the meantime, I still don't know what all these knobs and—and buttons are for!' when we went to rescue Ho Minh. "The point is, Caitlin," _I said, trying to soften my voice again, _"it's gonna take me a _**week **_to familiarize you with these controls."_

"_Does that mean we're not going?" _Caitlin asked, and I thought I heard the determination I'd gotten used to from her back in her voice again.

"_No," _I admitted. _"It just means I'm gonna have to figure out some way to put Dom's brain in your body."_ I stopped myself as I imagined how ridiculous that last statement sounded.

"_Just don't do it the other way around," _Caitlin said, and I couldn't help myself—I had to chuckle at her statement. I quickly hit the turbo button and felt Airwolf accelerate.

"_Hawke?"_ Caitlin asked a few minutes later, and I thought the uncertainty had crept back into her voice.

"_Yeah?" _I responded.

"_What the heck is going on here?"_ she demanded, and I noticed the fire was back in her voice. _"You blindfolded me, took me God-only-knows where, and now I'm sitting in a machine that looks like something you'd find in Darth Vader's bedroom! Look. I know you don't know me from Adam, and I don't know you real well, either. __B__ut if we're gonna do whatever it is we're gonna do, then I'm gonna need to know a few things. Y'know?" _I had to admit I wasn't too sure how I was going to answer her, but I realized—_now that she knows, she needs to know it all._

"_Yeah," I_ replied, then proceeded to tell her, on the condition that Caitlin swore not to discuss this with anybody else other than me, Dom, Michael, or Marella, about the government agency known as the FIRM, and its director, Michael Coldsmith-Briggs III, who Dom and I call "Archangel." I told her how I had been the chief test pilot for Airwolf, until her creator, Dr. Charles Henry Moffet, stole her and took her to Libya, and how I was keeping Airwolf until Michael either found my brother, Saint John, or found evidence that Saint John was dead. Then, I proceeded to tell Caitlin what Marella had told Dom and me back in the hospital room.

"_Archangel's a prisoner in East Germany,"_ I said. _"He went in there to rescue a woman. Maria von Fuerster, who made the KGB 'white list.'"_

"_'White list'?" _Caitlin asked. _"Never heard of such a thing. What the heck is it?"_

"_The Russian version of a top-20 hit list. Or, you can think of it as a top-20 most wanted list. Pretty much the same thing, only the people on a 'white list' just disappear. And now, Michael's there. And he's probably as wanted as von Fuerster is."_

"_So we're goin' to..."_

"_East Germany," _I said, and waited for Caitlin's response. I imagined she was considering whether or not she really wanted to be involved with this mission, and Airwolf. Finally, I said, _"Okay. You ready __to go over the weapons systems again?"_

"_Ready, Hawke," _Caitlin's voice, more convincing this time, sounded in my ears. For the next two hours, I went over each of Airwolf's 14 weapons systems, from the 30mm chain guns to the Shrike missiles, as well as how to deploy the ADF pods to avoid a scenario like had happened earlier. Finally, after I was finished and felt Caitlin understood at least the rudimentary operation of Airwolf's weapons systems and computers, and I set Airwolf down just long enough to tie the blindfold back over Caitlin's eyes, and left it there until after I'd landed back in the Lair, and we were back in the Jeep headed back to the hospital.

The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized I needed to apologize for what happened. I pulled off the main road to the hospital and stopped the Jeep, then as I removed the blindfold, I said, _"Cait, look. I—I'm sorry for snapping at you back there. I mean, heck, Dom didn't know what half the knobs and buttons were for the first time he flew in Airwolf, either. Actually, it took him two or three times flying in Airwolf before he knew everything back there as well as he does now."_ I smiled as I recalled what happened when we went in to rescue Sam Roper's son.

"_All we gotta do is attack Russia, steal a kid, and try not to get caught by our own government. In the meantime, I still don't know what all these—these knobs and—and buttons are for!"_ Dom had said.

"_I wouldn't sweat it, Dom,_"I said. _"You touch that 'eject' button, you'll be the first to know!"_

Just like that, my voice turned serious again as I spoke to Caitlin. _"But remember..."_

"_I know," _Caitlin replied. _"Keep it to myself." _Then she added, _"And by the way, Hawke. __A__pology accepted."_

"_Right," _I said, and began feeling a little more comfortable about bringing Caitlin into this. _"And, thanks," _I added.

But, something was beginning to bug me—Sure, I may have taught Caitlin how to run the engineering console, and I had no doubts that I'd have to continue her education once we'd launched. But we'd still need that third pilot to actually _fly _Airwolf, while I infiltrated Krueger's compound and tried to rescue Michael. _Whether I like it or not, I need Dom,_ I said to myself.

"_Oh, no you don't!" _The nurse insisted as I tried to maneuver Dom's wheelchair out of the hospital room.

"_Cait? She's yours," _I said, gesturing to the nurse.

"_Mine?" _Caitlin asked, then I think she realized what I wanted her to do. The nurse was saying something about not leaving without a doctor's authorization, and I heard Caitlin apologizing for what she was about to do as I moved Dom's wheelchair towards the door.

"_I'm sorry, nurse!"_ Caitlin shouted as she grabbed the nurse's arm and executed a perfect judo flip, which landed the nurse in Dom's bed as I pushed Dom out. A short time later, the three of us were back on board Airwolf, Dom in the co-pilot's chair and Caitlin in Dom's usual spot at the EDCC.

Things were pretty uneventful until we crossed into East German airspace, when Caitlin reported picking up "blips" on the radar screen. Dom was asleep, so I nudged him a couple of times until he finally woke up.

"_Picking up blips," I told him._

"_Type in 'ident bogey,'" Dom ordered._

"_'Ident bogey?' 'gy,' or 'gie'?" Caitlin demanded._

"_Bogey! Bogey! 'IE'!" Dom shouted, and I heard the panic and frustration in his voice._

"_Oh, my GOD!"_ _Caitlin shouted a few moments later._

"_What kind of an ID is _**that?**_" Dom demanded._

"_Well, it says they're MiG-25's armed with Aarid missiles. That's bad, isn't it?"_

"_Not unless they see us," I said._

"_Those MiGs are at twelve o'clock, ten miles and closing," Caitlin reported._

"_Are you _**sure **_they're at twelve o'clock?" _

"_Isn't that where both the _**big**_ and _**little **_hands are _**straight up?"**_ Caitlin demanded, and I saw Dom roll his eyes towards the ceiling._

"_Five miles, still at angels 30! 3, 2, 1. They passed us! They went right by, they didn't see us! Hey, guys, this is _**FUN!**_ I think we make a pretty good team!"_

"_**NO!"**_ _Dom and I both shouted._

"_Just a thought," _came the meek reply from the EDCC. Once we had arrived a few miles from Krueger's stronghold, I set Airwolf down, to make my way into the compound on foot. Dom took command of Airwolf, to provide close air support.

I met up with Maria von Fuerster outside the stronghold, and she agreed to help me rescue Michael, but not without a threat to kill us both if I tried anything. She also confirmed what I suspected—that she and Michael had been lovers. We found Michael in what appeared to be a sensory deprivation tank of some sort. Once Michael had recognized Maria, and we got him out of the tank, we headed for the parapets of the castle, where I hoped Dom would be waiting for us with Airwolf.

Unfortunately, Krueger followed us to the roof, and before Maria could get on board Airwolf, Krueger shot her at almost point-blank range. Michael tried to get me to wait, but I knew we couldn't, not with the amount of ground fire we were taking. I quickly took Airwolf into the sky and headed westward, toward home.

After getting a refueling from a KC-135 tanker, I said to Michael, _"Michael, when we land, give me your sidearm."_

"_What?" _he demanded, not exactly sure what I was thinking. _"Why?"_

"_Didn't you notice how easy our escape was?"_ I demanded.

"_You call that easy?" _Michael countered.

"_Yes," _I said. _"Either Kinskov has the worst gunners on the planet, or they weren't trying to hit Airwolf. Plus, doesn't the fact that we didn't encounter any elements of the East German air force strike you as just a bit odd?" _I could tell from the look on Michael's face that yes, it had been odd that we didn't encounter any aerial resistance to our escape.

"_What was that apparatus we found you in, Michael?"_

"_I—I'm not sure, Hawke," _Michael answered me. _"I think it was some kind of brainwashing device, but I'm not exactly sure."_

Once we'd landed Airwolf, before we met with Zeus and the Committee, as requested, Michael handed over his sidearm to me, and I replaced the ammunition in it with blanks. _"At least, if I'm right, you won't be arrested for murder," _I said when I handed the weapon back to Michael.

Dom, Caitlin and I walked into the Committee's meeting room, along with Michael and Marella, who walked to Michael's usual place at one end of the conference table. Zeus, the head of the FIRM, was sitting at the end of the table nearest to us.

"_Welcome home, Archangel." The strange man said. "I'm afraid we were going to have to write you off for good, this time."_

"_I always seem to make it back, Zeus. However this time, I did have just a _**little bit **_of help." He nodded at Caitlin, Dom and me._

"_Yes. Miss O'Shannessy, Mr. Hawke, Mr. Santini. We want to thank you for your bravery and valor. Marella, however, will have to be suspended, until a review board can determine whether she is capable of following orders."_

"_Of all the hypocritical bull!" Dom shouted. _

_I was suddenly afraid that Dom might do something we'd regret, so I tried to silence my friend. "Hey, Dom!"_

"_Aah! Well, somebody has to tell this egotistical bag of hot air where to go!" I knew from experience that Dom was getting agitated. He never listens to anybody when he gets like that, and I just hoped I could get us all out of there without causing a scene._

"_Dominic, he's right! Rules are rules!" Marella said from her position next to Michael._

"_If you believe that, then you're as sick as he is!" Dom shot back._

"_If she believed it, she wouldn't have come to you and Hawke!" Michael shouted._

"_This interview is _**over," **_Zeus stated coldly. I don't even think _**I **_could sound as cold as he had right then._

"_Not quite! I want my staff back, and full access to FIRM facilities. That means _**complete restoration **_of my division, _**including Marella," **_Michael said._

"_I said the interview is _**over," **_Zeus repeated, and his voice seemed to me to grow even colder._

"_I think your title has gone to your head, Zeus!" Michael shouted._

"_That's enough!" Zeus shouted back._

"_No, it's _**not enough! **_You would've left me out there to _**rot, **_after 20 years of loyalty!" Michael roared, and I don't think I've ever heard him sound angrier. _

"_Those are the rules, Michael. _**You **_helped create them! And now that I'm head of the FIRM, _**I'm **_here to enforce them!" Zeus shouted back, and angrily pointed at the desk to emphasize his point._

_Michael and Zeus stared at each other across the table for a moment, then Michael reached into his jacket, pulled out a 9mm pistol, and calmly shot Zeus. Everyone in the room began to panic, and four men I guessed were security guards rushed in, two grabbing hold of Marella and the other two grabbing Michael. "Michael Coldsmith-Briggs..." one of the guards began, and I knew Michael was being arrested for Zeus' murder. But then one of the other guards noticed Zeus beginning to move._

"_I—I'm all right," Zeus stammered. "What happened?"_

"_I'll answer that," I said, stepping forward. "Michael had been programmed to try to assassinate you, Zeus. That was part of what happened to him in East Germany. I figured it out after we escaped—it was too easy. Either Kinskov has the worst gunners in the world, or they weren't trying to hit Airwolf. They _**wanted **_us to escape, so that Michael could come back here and kill you, and probably a few more members of the Committee. Once I figured out what was going on, I substituted blanks for the ammo in Michael's gun."_

"_Thank you, Hawke," Michael said, nodding his head towards me. "That's two more I owe you."_

"_I'll send you a bill," I said, and grinned at him. Then Michael told Zeus that he wanted to go _**back **_to East Germany and get the formulas and research for Kinskov's mind control, and to get Maria out if he could. Not long afterward, we were back in Kinskov's compound, and I had found the book containing Kinskov's formulas. Michael was collecting the drugs from a wall safe when I came back to him. _

"_I found the formulas, Michael!" I said as I walked back to him. "Let's go."_

"_Hawke, look out!" Michael shouted just before he shot Krueger. Then, he heard someone else approach._

"_Maria?" Michael asked a few seconds later._

"_Give me that book and the pouch," Maria said. "I can't let you go with it."_

"_No." Michael stated clearly._

"_I swear, I'll kill you, Michael," Maria said, aiming her gun at him. I subtly raised my own weapon, aiming it for a fatal shot if I felt the need arise._

_I watched Maria's face, and saw her finger slowly squeezing her gun's trigger. Just before she would have fired, I let loose a single shot from my weapon, and Maria collapsed, dead._

_A few minutes later, Michael and I were back aboard Airwolf, and we were on our way out of East Germany, after getting into a dogfight with the East German air force. Caitlin's nerves finally got the best of her as we exited East German airspace. _

"_Scope's clean! Whoo-whee! Highway Patrol was _**never **_like that!" she exulted._

"_Like what?" I demanded._

"_That dogfight!" Caitlin insisted. I began trying to think of a way to tell Caitlin that she'd just imagined the whole thing—but I knew that would not be possible, especially with two other witnesses there with her._

"_What dogfight?" Dom piped up. Okay, make that _**one **_other witness, I thought to myself, glad that Dom was attempting to cover the obvious._

"_Oh, no you don't! This time, _**I've **_got a witness! Now, they can't tell me that..." I heard Caitlin's voice break, and I instinctively knew she had turned towards Michael. A few seconds later, her voice confirmed my suspicions._

"_Michael, what's wrong?" she asked. I almost asked how she knew Michael's name, but then I remembered how Zeus had called him by name just before Michael fired at him._

"_Maria's dead." I answered, knowing Michael was extremely upset._

"_She was working with Krueger all along," Michael said, and I could hear the sadness in his voice._

"_I'm sorry," Caitlin said. Michael's next words were, surprisingly, directed towards me._

"_It couldn't be helped," Michael said. "I do know that, Hawke."_

_I glanced back to Michael and Caitlin, and gave him a small nod of acknowledgment. We flew on in silence for a few minutes, then Dom spoke up._

"_I don't know about you guys, but I'm _**hungry. **_Whataya say we stop off for some beer and bratwurst, huh?" Dom asked, and I knew he was trying to lighten the mood._

"_Where?" I asked, incredulous._

"_Well, I dunno," Dom replied. "Any place that's got beer and bratwurst, I suppose!"_

"_Yeah, we can discuss our next mission," Caitlin said._

"_What mission?" Michael asked._

"_Oh, you know! Whatever you assign them to do next in this helicopter!" she replied._

"_**WHAT HELICOPTER?**_"_ Michael, Dom and I all demanded, practically in unison. I think Caitlin had realized then just how secret Airwolf was supposed to be. Of course, Dom had told her as much when we went in the first time._

"_Avoid friendly fighters?" Caitlin had asked when she saw that we had received NATO patrol routes and frequencies, and Dom told her they were so we could avoid NATO fighters._

"_Honey, in Airwolf, we ain't got any friends! Remember that!" Dom had stated. I started wondering whether or not Caitlin really wanted to be involved with this part of my life. And, I wondered if I even _**wanted **_Caitlin involved with this part of my life. Then, I realized that she already _**was **_involved, whether I liked it or not._

We finally found a small cafe just outside of Munich, and I began making plans to set Airwolf down in a clearing about a mile away.

"_Hawke, are you _**crazy?"**_ Michael demanded. "You're just going to leave Airwolf out here, unguarded, while we go and have lunch?"_

"_We've done it before, Michael," I said, in a tone of voice that I hoped indicated I didn't want to discuss it further. Dom winked at me, and I knew he was thinking the same thing I was—this would be a good way to irritate Michael without resorting to violence. Besides, even if somebody got into Airwolf, they couldn't fly her without the security code, which meant they'd be there when we came back._

"_But, Hawke..." Michael said, then stopped. "Never mind." I think Michael recognized my tone of voice, and decided not to press me any further on the matter. We finished covering Airwolf with a camouflage net, then hiked back into town to the cafe we had identified from the air._

_Once we were seated at an outdoor table, and Caitlin, Dom and Michael had ordered bratwurst and beer, and I ordered a salad, Michael turned to Caitlin, and I realized this would be their first face-to-face meeting._

"_Ah, this must be Dom's new employee. Miss O'Shannessy, correct?" Michael asked._

"_Sorry, Michael," I said, shaking my head as I realized I'd never formally introduced Michael to Caitlin. "Michael Coldsmith-Briggs, this is Caitlin O'Shannessy. Caitlin, this is Michael. Or as we call him, 'Archangel.'" I figured that, even though Michael already knew _**who **_Caitlin was, he'd never seen her in person before._

"_A pleasure, sir," Caitlin said, giving Michael a friendly smile._

"_Likewise, Miss O'Shannessy," Michael replied, shaking Caitlin's hand. "And thank you for all your help. I don't know if Hawke could have pulled this one off without you."_

_You don't know how right you are, Michael,_ I said to myself. _If Dom and Cait weren't with me, we never would have made it out of East Germany alive. And, the East Germans would have Airwolf, which would mean that eventually, the Russians would have gotten their hands on the Lady._

"_You're welcome, sir," Caitlin said, and her tone of voice indicated she wasn't completely comfortable with knowing who Michael was._

"_Miss O'Shannessy," Michael began again, and I felt compelled to say something, but Caitlin beat me to it.._

"_Please, call me Caitlin," she said._

"_Fine, Caitlin. But, if we're not going to stand on formalities, please don't call me 'sir.' Neither Hawke nor Dominic does, after all. You may call me 'Michael,' or 'Archangel,' if you like. Caitlin, I hope you realize what Hawke has involved you in. And, I don't think I have to tell you to keep everything that happened, and everything you saw, between the four of us."_

"_No, Michael, you don't," Caitlin replied. "I know that what happened, and what I saw, has to be our little secret, and I accept that. I just hope you don't expect me to up and forget what I saw." _

"_Well, I won't say that it wouldn't bother me if you did forget about Airwolf, me, and everything you've seen, but I don't think that's possible," Michael said with a grin directed at Caitlin. "But, I have to say, you handled yourself as well as I've ever seen under the circumstances. Hawke and Dom must have taught you very well."_

"_They did," Caitlin said with a smile directed at me, which made me feel uncomfortable._

By the time I arrived back at the cabin, I was _exhausted. _But, something that had happened just before Caitlin and I left the hospital room the first time was beginning to bug me, and my brain wouldn't let it go. When Dom looked at Caitlin in the flight suit, he smiled and very subtly winked at me, then nodded in Caitlin's direction. _Oh, no,_ I said to myself as I got ready for bed, _you're not gonna start that again, are you, Dom?_ I suddenly had visions of Dom trying to get me to look at Caitlin as someone other than just a "friend," even though I know she can't ever be more than that. And, I remembered the conversation we had as we left Pope County that first time.

"_She was kinda _**cute, **_huh, String?" Dom asked._

"_Cute? She's a _**kid!"**_ I said, even though I knew Dom didn't buy it._

"_Oh? I didn't know the Texas Highway Patrol let _**kids **_fly their choppers! Well, you know what they say."_

"_What?" I demanded, not altogether sure I wanted to know the answer._

"_They always get their man!" Dom replied. I knew I didn't want to know the answer._

"_That's the _**Canadian Mounties!" **_I retorted._

"_Same principle!" Dom said with a laugh, then started singing "The Yellow Rose of Texas."_

_Although,_ I said to myself as sleep finally began to claim me, _that flight suit did look awfully good on her._ _And I will admit __that __she's very pretty. _And as much as I hate to admit it, I guessed I could see Dom's point—_he knows__ he's not going to live forever, and he wants to know someone will be around to take care of me when he's gone. _That thought depressed me even more, and I realized then that I'd need a couple of days here at the cabin, away from Dom and Caitlin, to get her face—_her pretty face, _a voice inside my mind seemed to be saying—out of my mind. _Fortunately, today's Friday, which means I can stay up here until Monday without being bothered,_ I said to myself as I finally fell into what I hoped would be a deep and restful sleep.


	3. Chapter 3 Marella

_First Time_

A/N – This is an original idea, based around the S2 episode _Fallen Angel, _and, like _And **WHEN** Was The Wedding, _it will be told from several different points of view. Hope somebody enjoys it – robertwnielsen

Disclaimer – As usual, I don't own 'em. Just taking 'em out to play again...no profit made.

_Summary – _Michael is captured in East Germany, and Hawke is forced to bring Caitlin onto the crew after he and Dom are injured in a flying stunt.

_Chap. 3 – Marella_

_I can't believe what I just heard,_ I said to myself. "Archangel," or Michael Coldsmith-Briggs III, was in the custody of the East German KGB. Our section had been closed, all codes changed, and all data erased, as per FIRM procedures. Archangel had gone in to rescue a woman, Maria von Fuerster, who had made the KGB's "White List," their version of a top-20 hit list.

_Only now, I see it was a trap,_ I said to myself, not believing that Michael hadn't seen the obvious lure before he went in. _Although to be fair, he hasn't done field work like this in I-don't-know how long._ Michael usually leaves work like this for agents like Gabrielle, the woman who had flown him to Stringfellow Hawke's cabin a year ago to inform him of the theft of Airwolf. Now, it looked like Michael's rust had gotten him caught by an enemy who would waste no time in either torturing, or killing him. _Or torturing him, and **then **killing him, most likely. And I can't allow that to happen,_ I said to myself. _And not only because he's my boss. Also because I—I love him._

I couldn't believe I'd finally admitted my feelings about Michael, especially under these circumstances and, even if it _was_ only to myself, but it was the truth—I love Michael Coldsmith-Briggs III. I think I've loved him ever since the day back at Red Star, when Moffet stole Airwolf. I still remember that day, and I've had nightmares about it.

"_Dr. Moffet, this is Senator Dietz! I wanna congratulate you on the most spectacular weapons demo I've ever seen! I'd like to shake your hand!"_

"_You already have, Senator. On—Project Proteus."_

"_Proteus? That was at White Sands, in the '70s." I could tell from Senator Dietz's expression that he didn't remember it, and neither did I._

"_I trust the Senator remembers me," Moffet said._

"_Well, that was—that was a long time ago," Sen. Dietz replied._

"_Yes, the FIRM has shown great confidence in my ability to, ah—to _**change**_" Moffet said, and I could swear I heard someone chuckling in the background._

"_Well, I'm sure their trust is well-founded," Sen. Dietz continued._

"_Not really," Moffet replied—and then, all hell broke loose. Missiles began slamming into the control center, along with 30mm chain gun fire. I felt Michael grab me by my arms and throw me down onto the ground, covering my body with his own. If it had happened in another setting, who knows what might have happened. But with the screams of the injured, and the dying, echoing in our ears, fear was the only thing on my mind at that particular moment. The onslaught ended as quickly as it had begun, and we heard Airwolf's engines fading away. At that point, I was only concerned with Michael's safety, as he was concerned with mine._

_Of course, we later found out that Michael had lost his left eye, and was injured to the point of having to constantly wear a knee brace, and walk with a permanent limp. But ever since that day, I've felt something more than just a typical employee-employer relationship. I've loved that man, and not just because he saved my life._

_No, not just because he saved my life,_ I said to myself as I brought myself out of my reverie. _Especially since he's saved my life numerous times since that day. But there's something about him. Oh, I don't deny how attractive he is, but there's something more. And I don't know what that something is, to be perfectly honest. _But there's this much about it—_I **want** to know. _

But now, there's another problem—I've been looking for Stringfellow Hawke and Dominic Santini, who fly Airwolf, and I found out both of them are laid up in a hospital. Apparently, they were both injured in a movie stunt—Hawke seems to be better off than Dominic—Hawke has a broken arm, but they say Dom's supposed to be in traction for a month. I quickly left the office and drove to the hospital where they were both staying.

"_It's all in a day's work,_" I heard Dominic Santini saying as I walked towards their room. _"And besides, we're okay." _I could see Dom and Hawke both laying in bed, and I recognized Dominic's newest employee, Caitlin O'Shannessy. I had met Caitlin a few weeks previously, when I called out to the hangar looking for her shortly after hearing that she'd been hired at Santini Air. I met her with our limousine, and took her to a fashionable boutique that also serves as one of the FIRM's main clothiers. I figured it would be a good idea to have Caitlin's measurements, in case we needed to make, or alter an Airwolf flight suit for her. Little did I suspect I might have to use that information, for real. I was surprised and relieved that Caitlin didn't betray any recognition of me from our previous meeting as she walked out.

"_One wouldn't know it, to look at you," _I said coldly.

"_Uh-oh," Dominic said, and I noticed Hawke gazing knowingly at me._

"_Are you a doctor?" Caitlin asked, wide-eyed._

"_Yes. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to examine these two," I said._

"_Oh, sure," Caitlin replied and moved towards the door._

"_Hey, hey, wait a minute, you don't have to go anywhere!" Dominic said._

"_Dom, it's okay, I'll wait outside," Caitlin said with a smile as she walked out of the room._

"_A _**doctor, **_huh?" Dominic said, sounding impressed._

"_I have five doctorates," I replied. "Aeronautical engineering, electronic engineering, psychology, microbiology, and French literature."_

"_But, you're not a **doctor, doctor**_**,"**_ Dominic said._

"_You mean a medical doctor?" I queried. When Dominic replied, "Yeah," I said, "No. I still have a year of school left."_

"_Marella, is this a social call, or are we gonna see Archangel walk through that door?" Hawke asked._

"_I wish he could." I replied._

"_You mean, 'Mr. Clean' hasn't got time to come down and visit the wounded?" Dominic asked._

"_Archangel's a prisoner in East Germany," I said._

_I winced when I heard Dominic start laughing, and then Hawke said, "Bad joke, Marella."_

I hoped the glare I gave them convinced both Hawke and Dominic that I wasn't kidding. _"Sixteen hours ago, Michael crossed the border into East Germany to bring back one of their agents. __H__e never returned."_

"_I'll be damned," Dom said._

"_How come you're not at Langley, working with the rescue team?" Hawke demanded._

"_There _**is**_ no rescue team," I said, staring out the window. "Zeus and the Committee have frozen out our section."_

"_You mean, they're just gonna leave him out there and rot?" Dom asked._

"_Operating regulation 51-6: 'Any operative captured by the opposition is to be scratched within 36 hours of said capture. His section closed, all codes changed, all data erased.'" I realized I sounded like an automaton, but I felt like one at that moment._

"_That's some organization you belong to," Dom said._

"_You work for them, too," I reminded him._

"_Only under duress," he shot back._

"_I programmed everything I know about Michael's operation onto this," I said, handing Hawke a case with a CD-ROM disc inside, then continued, "It's compatible with Airwolf's computers."_

"_How come he was doing field work?" Hawke wanted to know. _I had to admit, I had my questions about that, also.

"_I don't know," I said. "As a guess, I'd say it was personal. The East German agent he was going to bring in was a woman, a Maria von Fuerster. We picked up word she made the KGB 'white list.'"_

"_'White list?' What the hell is that?" Dom demanded._

"_That's a Russian version of a top-20 hit list," I said. "Comes out once a month. People on it just disappear."_

"_I thought you said she was an East German agent," Hawke said._

"_They've been known to eat their own," I replied._

"_Like the FIRM," Dominic said. Even though what he'd said was technically accurate, I wasn't in the mood for Dominic Santini-style sarcasm, and I let him know it._

"_Dammit! I didn't come here to verbally fence with you! Michael's probably being tortured right now, his _**only chance **_is Airwolf! I just want to know, are you going in after him, or not?"_

_The silence that followed made me nervous. Finally, Hawke said, "Yeah, we're going in."_

"_Are you physically up to it?" I demanded. Hawke looked like he could handle a long flight and the possibility of air-to-air combat, but I was convinced Dominic was in no shape to fly. _

"_I don't know," Hawke said. "We'll just have to try." I was encouraged by Hawke's words, but more than a little worried._

"_I can't be in communication with you," I said. "Being frozen also means I'm under surveillance."_

"_What? They followed you here?" Hawke demanded._

"_I—I lost them in a porno house," I said, embarrassed to admit how far I'd gone to lose the tail, and worried that statement might give away my feelings about Michael._

"_Atta girl, Marella," Dominic said with a chuckle as I turned to leave. I took a few steps, then stopped._

"_Hawke? I'd go with you if I could," I said, fighting to keep the tears out of my voice._

"_I know." Hawke replied. I haven't known him that long, but I knew from his tone of voice that he meant it._

"_Good luck," I said, hoping that my tone of voice would convince them that I meant it. Just before I left, I laid a duffel bag on a table next to the door and exchanged a look with Hawke. _

"_Marella," he said, "is that..."_

"_For Caitlin, yes," I said, hoping that Caitlin would be able to learn Airwolf's systems well enough to accomplish the mission._

By the time I got back to the office, I had to wonder whether Hawke would actually go through with it. I mean, something like a cast on one arm isn't enough to stop Stringfellow Hawke. But Dominic—he looked terrible. I'd guessed he was supposed to be in traction for at **least **a month—and even that estimate might be conservative on my part—so there's no way in hell he's going on this mission.

But, without Dominic, Hawke's a dead man. Or at best, he'll wind up a prisoner in East Germany along with Michael. Which at the end of the day would amount to the same thing. Once the East Germans turned Airwolf over to the Soviets, and got whatever information they could out of Hawke, they'd kill him, as surely as they'd kill Michael.

_Surely Hawke wouldn't—no. He'd never go into enemy territory with an untrained back-seater,_ I said to myself. _ If Dominic Santini can't go on this mission, then there won't _**be **_a mission. _For some strange reason, just then I recalled something that I'd noticed when I first met Caitlin—whenever I mentioned Hawke's name, I saw a light in Caitlin's eyes. One that indicated to me that she had feelings for Hawke that were similar to mine for Michael. _Only, it's worse in Caitlin's case, because of that damned curse Hawke thinks he has. Well. If they come back alive, and Caitlin's involved in any way, I'll do whatever I have to do to help get her and Hawke together. _I figured, that would be the least I could do if Hawke, Caitlin, and Dominic brought Michael back to us. To _me._

I had resolved to stay at the office until I knew what had happened, one way or the other. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep because of how worried I was about this, and I figured there might be something I could do from Knightsbridge, like arrange any required refueling support. As I sat there, I recalled something that had happened when I was arguing with Dom—I had said, _"Dammit! I didn't come here to verbally fence with you! Michael's probably being tortured right now, his only chance is Airwolf!" Except __that __it came out sounding like "Air-woof," _I said to myself, shaking my head. I do that sometimes, when I get nervous or excited, so it made perfect sense why it happened then. But I made a decision—_If—no. __**When**__ they get back, I owe Dominic an apology for snapping at him like that._

Just then, a message came across the computer terminal on my desk. _Airwolf rendezvoused with refueling tanker Alpha at 0545 Zulu. Refueling accomplished normally._

_So at least, I know they're in the air,_ I said to myself. _Now, I wait._

Several hours later, the alarm I'd set on my computer terminal pinged, waking me out of a fitful sleep. The message on the terminal, however, caused my heart to sing for joy. _Airwolf rendezvoused with refueling tanker Delta at 1645 Zulu. Took full fuel load due to fourth crewmember onboard._

_Fourth crewmember. _It took a while for the words to register, but if the message said there were _four_ crewmembers, _that must mean they launched with three. Somehow, Dom _**is **_on this mission,_ I said to myself.

"_Marella, this is Airwolf. Come in, Marella."_

"_Hawke?" I asked, thankful that there was a radio in my office._

"_Yeah, Marella. And I've got somebody here who wants to talk to you."_

"_Marella, thank you," Michael said, and my heart leaped._

"_My pleasure, Michael," I said, having resolved to keep my personal feelings in check for the duration of the mission. "Is everyone..."_

"_We're okay, Marella," Hawke replied. "We'll be rendezvousing with our last tanker in a few minutes, and then we'll be home. Airwolf, clear."_

"_Thank you, Hawke. Mission Control, clear," I said, knowing he could hear the tears in my voice, and at the same time wondering if Michael could hear them, and what he felt about it. I decided I'd go home now that I knew Michael was safe. _

_The next morning, I made sure to be at the office bright and early, and was overjoyed to see Michael waiting for me._

"_Welcome home, Michael," I said, walking over to him and giving him a warm embrace._

"_Thank you, Marella," Michael replied, then his tone turned entirely businesslike. "Hawke, Caitlin, and Dom are waiting outside. Shall we?" _

"_Yes, sir," I said and walked out to meet up with Hawke, Dominic, and Caitlin...and then, with the Committee. The first thing I noticed when I met up with Hawke, Dominic, and Caitlin was the fact that Dominic was in a full upper-body cast. I wondered if his lower extremities were in much pain, as I could see his upper body was, practically every time he breathed. I wondered how he'd been able to go on this mission, in that much pain. Then, I noticed the look on Caitlin's face—she hadn't recognized me that day in the hospital, but she recognized me now. And she looked angry. Of course, I knew _**why **_Caitlin was angry—even though she knew who I was, I never told her I work with Michael, and the FIRM. I knew I was in trouble, and I decided that I needed to talk to her as soon as...whatever happened with the Committee happened._

_Before we walked into the meeting room, I said, "Dominic, I'm sorry for what happened at the hospital that day. I—I shouldn't have snapped at you like that." _

"_That's okay, Marella," Dom said. "I was kinda givin' you a hard time myself. So no hard feelings?"_

"_No," I said, and smiled at him. Besides, I said to myself, I'm used to your style of sarcasm, Dominic._

_We walked into the Committee's meeting room and to the chair normally reserved for Michael. I stood at my normal place at his left shoulder as the meeting began._

"_Welcome home, Archangel." I heard Zeus say. "I'm afraid we were going to have to write you off for good, this time."_

"_I always seem to make it back, Zeus. However this time, I did have just a _**little bit **_of help." He nodded at Caitlin, Dom and Hawke._

"_Yes. Miss O'Shannessy, Mr. Hawke, Mr. Santini. We want to thank you for your bravery and valor. Marella, however, will have to be suspended, until a review board can determine whether she is capable of following orders." I wasn't surprised at this—I had broken the rules, after all—but Dominic was angered by Zeus' declaration—and I have to admit, his words took me by surprise._

"_Of all the hypocritical bull!" Dom shouted. I was surprised to hear that—I don't think Dominic Santini has ever stuck up for me to anyone, let alone Zeus._

_I suddenly worried that Dom might do something he'd regret. Fortunately, Hawke tried to silence his friend. "Hey, Dom!"_

"_Aah! Well, somebody has to tell this egotistical bag of hot air where to go!" I got the distinct impression that Dominic was getting very agitated, and Hawke was doing his best to control Dominic, but I felt compelled to add something._

"_Dominic, he's right! Rules are rules!" I said from my position next to Michael._

"_If you believe that, then you're as sick as he is!" Dom shot back._

"_If she believed it, she wouldn't have come to you and Hawke!" Michael shouted._

"_This interview is _**over," **_Zeus stated coldly. In all the time I've known him, I don't think I've _**ever **_heard Zeus' voice sound so cold._

"_Not quite! I want my staff back, and full access to FIRM facilities. That means _**complete restoration **_of my division, _**including Marella," **_Michael said._

"_I said the interview is _**over," **_Zeus repeated, and his voice seemed to me to grow even colder._

"_I think your title has gone to your head, Zeus!" Michael shouted._

"_That's enough!" Zeus shouted back._

"_No, it's _**not enough! **_You would've left me out there to _**rot, **_after 20 years of loyalty!" Michael roared. I began to worry just how far this argument was going to go. _

"_Those are the rules, Michael. _**You **_helped create them! And now that I'm head of the FIRM, _**I'm **_here to enforce them!" Zeus shouted back, and angrily pointed at the desk to emphasize his point._

_Michael and Zeus stared at each other across the table for a moment, then Michael reached into his jacket, pulled out a 9mm pistol, and calmly shot Zeus. Everyone in the room began to panic, and four of the FIRM's security guards rushed in, two grabbing hold of me and the other two grabbing Michael. "Michael Coldsmith-Briggs..." one of the guards holding him began, and I knew Michael was being arrested for Zeus' murder. But then one of the other guards holding me noticed Zeus beginning to move, and the guards released us both._

"_I—I'm all right," Zeus stammered. "What happened?"_

"_I'll answer that," Hawke said, stepping forward. "Michael had been programmed to try to assassinate you, Zeus. That was part of what happened to him in East Germany. I figured it out after we escaped—it was too easy. Either Kinskov has the worst gunners in the world, or they weren't trying to hit Airwolf. They _**wanted **_us to escape, so that Michael could come back here and kill you, and probably a few more members of the Committee. Once I figured out what was going on, I substituted blanks for the ammo in Michael's gun."_

"_Thank you, Hawke," Michael said, nodding his head towards Hawke and his friends. "That's two more I owe you."_

"_I'll send you a bill," Hawke said, and I saw Hawke grin at Michael and me. Then Michael told Zeus that he wanted to go _**back **_to East Germany and get the formulas and research for Kinskov's mind control, and to get Maria out if he could._

_What?_ I remembered thinking to myself. _He wants to go back there?_ But I realized he felt like his original mission was unfinished, and there was the matter of the research materials and brainwashing drugs that I knew Michael wanted to retrieve, so that our scientists could study them. Before they left, I pulled Michael aside and said, "Michael, when you get back, we need to talk."

Michael hesitated, then nodded. "All right." I noticed Hawke, Dominic, and Michael headed to the door, but I saw Caitlin stay behind. I made Zeus go down to the infirmary to have the blanks removed and get himself taped up.

Just before they left, Caitlin came up to me and said, "_We_ need to talk. _R__ight now._" I noticed the room was empty, so I nodded, then quickly locked the doors and said, "All right. I do owe you an apology, Caitlin. I should have mentioned something about who I work with."

"You're darned right you should have!" Caitlin shot back, and I became nervous. "But, I guess it's okay," she said, and I relaxed a little bit. Then she continued, "Lemme ask you somethin'—when you came to the hangar that time and we went to that boutique. Was that how you had the right size for a flight suit for me?"

"Yes, Caitlin, it was," I admitted. "That particular boutique does a lot of clothing for us. Most of the female employees of the FIRM get our dresses and other work-related apparel there. And, I'm one of their best customers. When we learned that you had been hired by Dominic, I had a feeling that we might need that information. I just...hadn't planned on using it for real, especially so soon."

I could see Caitlin was turning this information over in her mind, and finally, she said, "Okay, Marella. I guess it's just one more thing I've gotta learn."

"Caitlin," I said, "there's no reason you need to continue any involvement with Hawke...or with us. Once this mission is over..."

"_Hold it. _Just hold it right there, Marella," Caitlin said, and I saw a spark coming into her eyes. "If you think for one second that I'm gonna just up and forget about everything I saw, then you've got another think coming. And I told Michael the same thing."

"All right, Caitlin," I said, realizing she was just as tenacious as I was, and wondering why Michael had never tried to recruit her into the FIRM. "Well, good luck again."

"Thanks, Marella," Caitlin said with a smile as I unlocked the doors and she hurried out to rejoin Hawke, Dom, and Michael. Even though I hadn't been too sure about Caitlin when I first met her, I found myself liking the feisty young woman—and at the same time, wondering why Michael never recruited her into the FIRM as a field agent. _She would have made a good one,_ I said to myself.

I eventually heard the story of the original mission—Hawke and Caitlin had broken Dominic out of the hospital to fly with them—Hawke had realized that he would need someone to fly Airwolf and provide air support while he went into the compound to rescue Michael, and again while he and Michael went to take the formulas and drugs.

A few days later, with our division restored and everyone safe, I was surprised when Michael invited me to his house after work, for dinner.

"You did say we needed to talk," Michael said when he noticed my expression.

"Yes, Michael, I did," I said, trying to relax. "Michael...that woman...Maria. Were you...?" I couldn't bring myself to say the last word. _L__overs. But, I have to know._

"At one time, yes," Michael said. "We were lovers when I was a field agent with the CIA, before the FIRM was established."

"I see," I said, and hoped that my tone of voice didn't betray my emotions.

"Marella," Michael said, concerned, "it's a long time over. And anyway, Maria's dead. Hawke shot her, just before she would have killed me. But, why would you ask me a question like that?"

I couldn't say anything, so I pulled Michael closer to me and kissed him, a deep, passionate, loving kiss that I hoped would convey the feelings that I'd held in my heart for so long. I felt Michael's body stiffen when I first kissed him, but it didn't take long for him to relax in my arms, and return the kiss.

"Michael," I said after I had pulled us apart and found my voice, "I have something I need to tell you. I—I love you. I have for a long time, and when you went missing..." I felt my voice crack and was relieved when I felt Michael enfold me in his arms.

"Marella," he whispered, pulling me closer to him, "I—I love you, too. I have for a long time. I just never knew the right way to tell you." I could tell how embarrassed Michael was, and I knew I had to say something.

"Michael," I said as we held each other, "I understand. I mean, I never knew the right way to tell _you _about _my _feelings, either. So, we're even, okay?" I smiled at him, not the smile of a co-worker, but the special smile that a woman saves for the man she loves.

"Okay, Marella," Michael replied, and smiled back at me. "But, this is going to change some things. We'll definitely have to be careful around the office, especially if we're dealing with Zeus."

"Michael," I said, and tightened my arms around him, "there are couples who work together at Knightsbridge—there's no rules against employees dating, even if one is the other's direct supervisor," I said, but I understood what he was concerned about. _It wouldn't look good for us to be carrying on like a couple of hormonal teenagers._

Aloud, I said, "Don't worry, Michael. The fact that we're getting closer personally won't affect how I behave around you at the office. I'll be able to separate our personal relationship from work. Unless," I said, my expression turning sultry, "your front door is locked. I believe the walls in your office are soundproofed, correct?"

I saw the light come into Michael's good eye. "You are observant, Marella. And, that will definitely come in handy," he said, pulling us closer together. Then he added, "Two things will come in handy—your observational skills, and the soundproofed walls in my office." He grinned down at me, and I smiled back at him as I relaxed in his arms and made another decision. With Michael home, safe, and our feelings for each other out in the open, I knew I had another goal—one that I had set after meeting Caitlin that day. _One way or another, I'm going to get Hawke to realize how Caitlin feels about him, and that it __would be__ okay if he develops those feelings about her, too. And I think I'm going to have a lot of help. _I don't know why, but for some reason I had a suspicion that Dominic had similar feelings to mine about Caitlin and Hawke. Call it a feeling, or "woman's intuition," or whatever. I just got the feeling Dominic was thinking that Caitlin had feelings for Hawke that were similar to mine for Michael, and was wondering how he'd get Hawke to realize Caitlin's feelings, and accept them. So, if worse came to worse, I'd have a most unlikely ally in Dominic Santini. _And I'll help him get String and Caitlin together, if that's what he's thinking,_ I said to myself. _It's the least I can do, after what they all __did for me. _But I decided to forget about Caitlin and Hawke for a while, and concentrate on the new relationship that Michael and I were beginning. Just then, Michael's lips met mine again and there was no more time—or ability—for either of us to speak.


	4. Chapter 4 Dom

_First Time_

A/N – This is an original idea, based around the S2 episode _Fallen Angel, _and, like _And **WHEN** Was The Wedding, _it will be told from several different points of view. Hope somebody enjoys it – robertwnielsen

A/N 2 – Did a rebuild of the chapter, taking out some of the direct dialog from the episode, due to feedback received from several reviewers. If you can't review the chapter again (and I'm thinking you probably won't be able to, but please try), please PM me and let me know if the changes make the story better, worse, or don't change anything. – robertwnielsen

Disclaimer – As usual, I don't own 'em. Just taking 'em out to play again...no profit made.

_Summary – _Michael is captured in East Germany, and Hawke is forced to bring Caitlin onto the crew after he and Dom are injured in a flying stunt.

_Chap. 4 – Dom_

_I can't believe I'm laying here in the hospital. Especially now. _I said to myself as I watched Stringfellow Hawke leave the hospital room where he and I had been ever since we were injured a few days ago.

"_Like landing in a feather bed, baby!" I shouted._

"_Yeah, I know a guy who broke his neck jumpin' into a feather bed!" String shot back from the front seat of the old WW1 plane._

_We flew for a few minutes, then Hawke shouted, "Balsa wood, huh?"_

"_Yeah!" I responded. _

_SMASH! We crashed through the barn, and I immediately knew something was wrong._

"_Sure didn't sound like balsa wood!" Hawke said._

"_It didn't even _**feel **_like balsa wood," I said, realizing that every part of my body hurt like hell._

A few days later, String and I were in the hospital, talking over the accident with our co-worker, Caitlin O'Shannessy. I have to admit, I was more than a little irritated—I was supposed to be in traction for a _month, _but here String was practically intact, except for a busted right arm. _How the hell did he get so damned lucky? _I asked myself, then noticed String was saying something.

"_Which means..." Hawke said, chuckling._

"_It wasn't balsa wood!" I responded, laughing at the obvious statement._

"_You guys are damned lucky." Caitlin said, angry at us for joking._

"_Lucky? You call this lucky?" I said, still laughing._

"_All I know is that director's got his studio breathing down his neck for improper stunt supervision," Caitlin retorted, her arms angrily crossed._

"_They're probably just afraid we're gonna sue 'em," Hawke said, stifling more laughter. "They did put the balsa wood on the wrong side of the barn," he continued. Caitlin joined Hawke and me laughing this time. _

"_It's all in a day's work," I said, and added, "And besides, we're okay." _

I hadn't heard anyone come into the room, but I recognized the voice immediately.

"_One wouldn't know it, to look at you," _I heard Archangel's assistant, Marella, say coldly.

"_Uh-oh," I said, and noticed Hawke gazing knowingly at Marella._

"_Are you a doctor?" Caitlin asked, wide-eyed._

"_Yes. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to examine these two," Marella said._

"_Oh, sure," Caitlin replied and moved towards the door._

"_Hey, hey, wait a minute, you don't have to go anywhere!" I said._

"_Dom, it's okay, I'll wait outside," Caitlin said with a smile as she walked out of the room._

"_A _**doctor, **_huh?" I said, sounding impressed._ I mean, I knew Marella was educated, but never suspected she was a doctor, of all things.

"_I have five doctorates," she replied. "Aeronautical engineering, electronic engineering, psychology, microbiology, and French literature."_

"_But, you're not a **doctor, doctor**_**,"**_ I said._

"_You mean a medical doctor?" Marella queried. When I replied, "Yeah," she said, "No. I still have a year of school left."_

"_Marella, is this a social call, or are we gonna see Archangel walk through that door?" Hawke asked._

Marella proceeded to tell String, and me, how Michael had been captured in East Germany. When I heard String say, _"Bad joke, Marella," _I thought—_he doesn't believe her. _Which, I have to admit, struck me as more than a little weird—_he's never doubted anything Marella had to say before. _Now, I don't know about String, but Marella's glare convinced _me_ that she wasn't joking. It _also _convinced me that Marella was worried about Michael, and not in the same way that, say, Caitlin would worry about me. _Now, about String, maybe, _I thought to myself, but I forced myself out of my reverie when I heard Marella speak again.

"_Sixteen hours ago, Michael crossed the border into East Germany to bring back one of their agents. He never returned."_

"_I'll be damned," I said when I realized Marella was serious._

"_How come you're not at Langley, working with the rescue team?" Hawke demanded._

Marella proceeded to tell us that there would _be _no rescue team, citing some operating regulation that specified how operatives were treated if they got caught—basically, their sections were closed down and everything was changed—codes, the whole nine yards. And, any data they might have collected was erased. In other words, to the outside world, that operative—in this case, Michael—would cease to exist. That didn't ring as completely fair to me. I mean, Michael and I'll never be drinkin' buddies or anything like that, to just leave someone in the hands of the enemy—that just seemed _wrong._

"_How come he was doing field work?" _Hawke wanted to know.I had to admit, I had questions about that, too. In the time I've known Archangel, I never knew him to be much for field work. _That's why he has people like Marella. __A__nd Gabrielle,_ I said to myself.

"_I don't know," Marella said. "As a guess, I'd say it was personal. The East German agent he was going to bring in was a woman. A Maria von Fuerster. We picked up word she made the KGB 'white list.'"_

"_'White list?' What the hell is that?" I demanded, but something told me I didn't want to know._

Marella told us that the 'white list' was the Soviet version of a top-20 most wanted list. And, that people on it just disappeared. _I knew I didn't wanna know,_ I said to myself.

"_I thought you said she was an East German agent," Hawke said._

"_They've been known to eat their own," Marella replied._

"_Like the FIRM," I said. Marella's response made me wonder just how strongly she felt about Archangel. _The viciousness of her response to me said to me that she felt something for Michael over and above respect for her employer. _If I didn't know better, I'd swear Marella was in love with Michael,_ I said to myself. Then, when Marella demanded to know whether or not we were going in, I started worrying—_how the hell does Marella expect us to get in there and rescue Michael, with me in this confounded body cast?_

_I thought the silence that followed was making Marella nervous, and, to be honest, it was making _**me**_ nervous. Finally, Hawke said, "Yeah, we're going in."_

"_Are you physically up to it?" Marella demanded. _

"_I don't know," Hawke said. "We'll just have to try." I gotta admit, I wondered what the heck String was gonna do trying to fly this mission without me. _

Marella made like she was going to leave, then mentioned that she couldn't communicate with us, since she was under surveillance. String asked if any FIRM agents had followed her, and Marella told us she lost them in a porno house. I was _impressed. I didn't think Marella would ever go into a place like that. But, I guessed that she needed to do _something_ to keep whoever was tailing her from figuring out __where she was going._

"_Hawke? I'd go with you if I could," Marella said, and I could hear the tears in her voice, which convinced me even more that she had feelings for Michael that went beyond the typical employee-employer relationship. I just wondered exactly _**how far **_beyond it they went. _

"_I know." Hawke replied. Just from his tone of voice, I knew String meant what he said, and I got worried._

"_Good luck," Marella said. Just before she left, she laid a duffel bag on a table next to the door and exchanged a look with String. _

"_Marella," he said, "is that..."_

"_For Caitlin, yes," Marella replied. _**What would Marella be bringing for Caitlin? **_I asked myself as Marella walked out of the room._

"_You up to flying?" I heard String say as the door to the room closed._

"_Hell, yeah," I said. "All I have to do is..." I tried to move, then winced as I felt the pain in my ribs. And my legs. And my arms. _

"_Wait three weeks, and heal," Hawke shot back._

"_Well, you can't fly Airwolf alone," I said, concerned, "and not into East Germany!" I suddenly began worrying about String—would he really try to fly into enemy territory alone?_

"_It looks like I'm gonna have to. I have no choice," Hawke said, and his tone of voice convinced me even more that he was seriously considering doing it. Just then, we heard the door open, and Caitlin walked back in._

"_Hey, guys! What'd the doctor have to say?" Caitlin asked us. I glanced over at String, and I saw...that look. _Now, I was _really_ worried. It would be as dangerous for String to take Airwolf into East Germany with an untrained engineer as it would be for him to do it alone.

String glanced over to the table where Marella had left the duffel bag. "Caitlin, that's for you," he said. Caitlin walked over and opened the bag, then headed out the door again. _Where the heck is she going? _I asked myself. _What the heck was in that bag?_ I didn't have to wait long to find out. Caitlin walked back into the room in an Airwolf flight suit that, I noticed, fit Caitlin almost perfectly, albeit a little tightly. _Then again, all our flight suits are tailored a little tight,_ I said to myself, and I realized the flight suit was what Marella had left. _How the heck did Marella get a flight suit tailored to Caitlin's measurements? _I asked myself. I watched as String walked into the bathroom and got dressed, then he and Caitlin walked out of the hospital room.

_What the hell is he doing? _I remember asking myself. _He can't be going to put Caitlin in the engineer's chair, can he? _On the one hand, I was defensive—after all, that's _my chair._ On the other hand, I was upset—why the hell does String think he can trust Caitlin, especially with things as important as Airwolf, his life, _and_ Michael's life? Then I realized something—_he not have a choice. If we don't try this, Michael's a dead man. And String sure as hell can't do it alone._

I knew without even asking that String and Caitlin had headed to the Lair to train Caitlin on the engineer's console. _I suppose we'd have to do it sooner or later anyway,_ I said to myself, but still, there was a part of me that didn't want Caitlin anywhere near our baby. Call it being overprotective, call it whatever you want, but that's how I felt.

The next day, String and Cait came back to our hospital room, and Cait told me String had a wheelchair—I realized that he was planning to take me out of there._ Something must've happened yesterday, and String's figured out that they need me. _Caitlin helped String get me into the wheelchair, which was uncomfortable in and of itself—my whole body hurt, and every step I took only made the pain worse. Just about the time I thought I'd never find that damned chair, String pushed it under me and I sat down, and all but ordered Caitlin to leave my feet alone. Then, the nurse walked in and asked us what we were doing, since I was supposed to be in traction for a month.

I proceeded to tell her that, on my own authority, we were just gonna go do a quick shoot on the film and come right back—but I could tell by her expression, she wasn't buying it. She stood between us and the door, until Cait knocked the wind out of the old bag with a perfect judo flip, which landed her on one of our beds.

I screamed as String wheeled me out of the room and out to the elevator, and a few minutes later, we were in the Jeep headed for the Lair.

"_Have you accessed Marella's program yet?" I demanded after we launched from the Lair, Caitlin in my normal seat at the engineer's console, and me in the co-pilot's chair. I couldn't help thinking to myself how these seats might be comfortable under normal circumstances, but in my present condition, it hurt like hell. I couldn't believe I was gonna have to ride all the way to East Germany in it._

"_Yessir," Caitlin responded._

"_Okay. Type in 3379-BRAVO-7."_

"_3379M-B7," Caitlin repeated. I wondered why she said "MB-7," but a few seconds later, Caitlin responded, "Hey, it worked!" I rolled my eyes toward the ceiling._

"_Maria's pretty cute for an older woman," Caitlin said._

"_How old _**is **_she?" I asked._

"_42," she replied. I rolled my eyes again. What does that make _**me, **_if she thinks 42 is old?_

"_You get a location on her?" Hawke demanded._

"_Yeah, East Germany, Magdenburg, Freitrasse 37. And, there's a series of coordinates here, uh, latitude and longitude for a suggested landing spot, 5 kilometers south of town. Oh, here comes an aerial chart, looks like routes and frequencies."_

"_Well, I've gotta hand it to Marella. She sure is thorough," String said._

"_Do we take one of these?" Caitlin asked._

"_No. Those are NATO routes and frequencies, so we can avoid them," I said._

"_Avoid friendly fighters?" Caitlin asked._

"_Honey, in Airwolf, we ain't got any friends, remember that!" I said._

"_Oh. Well, why aren't there any displayed for East Germany?" Caitlin wanted to know._

"_I'd say because we don't know any East German patrol routes," String replied._

"_Oh. You mean, we have to fake it?" Caitlin asked. String and I exchanged a knowing look._

_Several hours later, Caitlin spoke up again, telling String that we had the European coast dead ahead. 'Not your best choice of words, there, Cait,' I said to myself._

"_Going to stealth mode," Hawke replied curtly._

"_IR suppression factor 98.4," I replied._

My job done, I decided to try to relax and take a little nap—I'd need to be at full strength when String landed, because _I'd _be flying Airwolf while he went into Krueger's compound to rescue Michael.

Suddenly, I felt String nudging me, which really ticked me off—I was having a wonderful dream about something or other. I just can't remember what it was. But it had me relaxed, until I felt String shaking me out of sleep.

"_Picking up blips," _he said.

"_Oh. Type in 'Code Alpha Scan," _I ordered Caitlin.

"_We just breached East German airspace. So, heads up," Hawke said._

"_Those blips are at twelve o'clock, angels 30, 50 miles and closing," Caitlin reported. "What are they?"_

"_That little bit of excitement you've been waiting for," String replied. I knew without asking that we had stumbled onto an East German Air Force patrol. I just hoped to hell we could get past them._

"_Caitlin, you got an ID?" Hawke asked._

"_What?" she asked._

"_Type in 'ident bogey,'" I ordered._

"_'Ident bogey?' 'gy' or 'gie'?" Caitlin asked, and I heard the fear in her voice._

"_Bogie! Bogie! 'IE'!" I shouted. I knew it was spelled 'bogey' for singular, but the computer should take it. Guess I was just getting nervous, too._

"_Oh, my God!" Caitlin reported._

"_What kind of an ID is THAT?" I demanded._

"_Well, it says those are MiG-25's armed with Arid missiles. That's bad, isn't it?" Caitlin asked._

"_Not unless they see us," String replied._

"_Where are they now?" I asked._

"_Twelve o'clock, 25 miles and closing," Caitlin reported._

"_Are you SURE they're at twelve o'clock?" I asked._

"_Isn't that where both the BIG and LITTLE hands are STRAIGHT UP?" Caitlin retorted. I rolled my eyes again, knowing that this was the most frightened Caitlin had ever been in her entire life. In the short time I've known Caitlin, I've realized something—she gets angry when she's scared. Even so, she kept up a count on the range to the MiGs, and I held my breath when she got to "one," knowing that the dogfight could start at any moment. Then, Caitlin reported that the MiGs had passed us by, and I breathed a silent sigh of relief._

"_Hey, guys, this is fun! I think we make a pretty good team," Caitlin said._

"**_NO!"_**_ String and I stated firmly, and in unison._

"_Just a thought,"_ came Caitlin's meek reply. I began wondering if we'd been a little harsh. _After all, she's gotten us this far. _

We finally landed and String left, to go find Maria. Painfully, I assumed Hawke's place in the commander's seat and then, we waited.

_2330. Okay, it's time to go. _I said to myself, watching the chronometer. Aloud, I said, "_Time's up, Cait. Here we go. Give me a heading straight to the castle!"_

"_Okay, Dom. Bearing 036. Range, 50 miles. What altitude?"_

"_No more than 10 meters," I replied, knowing the lower we were, the longer it would take their radar to pick us up. "We'll come in low, under their defense grid."_

A few minutes later, I heard Caitlin call outthat the castle was within 20 miles. _Okay. Time to go to __work, _I said to myself.

"_Okay, vacation's over. Gimme guns," I ordered._

"_Roger. Guns 1 and 2," Caitlin responded._

"_Atta girl," I answered. "Now, deploy the ADF pod."_

"_Got it!" she replied._

Within a few more minutes, we were over Krueger's castle, and the anti-aircraft fire began. Caitlin called out locations of anti-aircraft emplacements, and I took them out, either with chain guns or Hellfire missiles.

"_Where's String?" Caitlin demanded after a few minutes._

"_He'll be here," I responded, the calm in my voice more than a little forced. "You just keep pointing out places to shoot at!" I began wondering how much of the castle would be left when we were finished with it, judging from the amount of explosions I was seeing. I mean, I swear I'd put most of Airwolf's 30mm chain gun ammo into the walls of that place, along with a generous allowance of Hellfires, and for some oddball reason, I started wondering how much this mission was going to cost the FIRM._

_Finally, I saw them. "Here they come!" I called out, moving Airwolf over to a place where they could board._

"_Get aboard! Get aboard!" I shouted as Caitlin helped Michael into the helicopter._

I heard Michael shout at someone named Maria, then heard more gunshots. But for some reason, they sounded like they came from a silenced weapon, not the anti-aircraft and rifle fire that was targeting Airwolf. I wondered if either Michael or String had been hit, but then I heard Michael's voice.

"_No! Maria! String, wait!" Michael was saying. But String took over and I heard Caitlin pull Michael back into Airwolf as we banked away._

After getting a refueling from a KC-135 tanker, Hawke said to Michael, _"Michael. When we land, give me your sidearm."_

"_What?" _he demanded, and I could tell Michael wasn't exactly sure what String was thinking. _"Why?" _

_Come to think of it, _**I'm **_not too sure what String's thinking,_ I said to myself.

"_Didn't you notice how easy our escape was?"_ String demanded. _Easy? You call that 'easy?' _I was shocked at String's insinuation.

"_You call that easy?" _Michael countered, voicing my question.

"_Yes," _Stringsaid. _"Either Kinskov has the worst gunners on the planet, or they weren't trying to hit Airwolf. Plus, doesn't the fact that we didn't encounter any elements of the East German air force strike you as just a bit odd?" _I reluctantly agreed with String, especially considering four MiG-25's had passed us by when we flew in. _I'd expected half the East German air force to try and stop us,_ I said to myself. Suddenly, I realized what String was driving at—_for some reason, they _**wanted**_ us to escape. That they let us go._

"_What was that apparatus we found you in, Michael?" _String wanted to know.

"_I'm—I'm not sure, Hawke," _Michael answered. _"I think it was some kind of brainwashing device, but I'm not exactly sure."_

Once we'd landed Airwolf, before we met with Zeus and the Committee, as requested, Michael handed over his sidearm to String, and String replaced the ammunition in it with blanks. _"At least, if I'm right, you won't be arrested for murder," _he said when he handed the weapon back to Michael. Personally, I didn't want to think about what might happen if String was _wrong._

String, Caitlin and I walked into the Committee's meeting room, along with Michael and Marella, who walked to Michael's usual place at one end of the conference table. Zeus, the head of the FIRM, was sitting at the end of the table nearest to us. I didn't pay much attention to what he was saying, other than hearing him thank String, Caitlin, and me for what we did. _Humph. He wouldn't do the same for __us,_ I remember saying to myself. Then, something Zeus was saying caught my attention.

"_Marella, however, will have to be suspended, until a review board can determine whether she is capable of following orders." Now, that made me mad. After what Marella did to help rescue Michael, I couldn't control myself._

"_Of all the hypocritical bull!" I shouted. I caught Marella's expression out of the corner of my eye, and resolved to explain myself later. _

_I suddenly felt String elbow me. "Hey, Dom!"_

"_Aah! Well, somebody has to tell this egotistical bag of hot air where to go!" I knew from experience that String was trying to stop me from causing a scene. I said this before and I'll say it again—Michael and I have never seen eye-to-eye on anything, and I doubt we ever will, but I like Marella, and to see her being treated like this, after what she did to let us know about Michael's capture, was just totally wrong—and I was gonna let Zeus know about it. _

"_Dominic, he's right! Rules are rules!" Marella said from her position next to Michael._

"_If you believe that, then you're as sick as he is!" I shot back._

"_If she believed it, she wouldn't have come to you and Hawke!" Michael shouted._

I gotta admit, I didn't pay much attention to the exchange between Michael and Zeus, mainly because I was so mad at Zeus for the way he'd treated both Michael, and Marella. I mean, like I said before, Michael and I'll never be drinkin' buddies or anything like that, but what Zeus was talking about was just flat out wrong, and to be perfectly honest, it made my blood boil. And that's sayin' something, for an Italian.

Michael and Zeus stared at each other across the table for a moment, then Michael reached into his jacket, pulled out a 9mm pistol, and calmly shot Zeus. Everyone in the room began to panic, and four men I guessed were security guards rushed in, two grabbing hold of Marella and the other two grabbing Michael. "Michael Coldsmith-Briggs..." one of the guards began, and I knew Michael was being arrested for Zeus' murder. But then one of the other guards noticed Zeus beginning to move.

"_I—I'm all right," Zeus stammered. "What happened?"_

"_I'll answer that," String said as he stepped forward. "Michael had been programmed to try to assassinate you, Zeus. That was part of what happened to him in East Germany. I figured it out after we escaped—it was too easy. Either Kinskov has the worst gunners in the world, or they weren't trying to hit Airwolf. They _**wanted **_us to escape, so that Michael could come back here and kill you, and probably a few more members of the Committee. Once I figured out what was going on, I substituted blanks for the ammo in Michael's gun."_

"_Thank you, Hawke," Michael said, nodding his head towards String. "That's two more I owe you."_

"_I'll send you a bill," String said, and grinned at him. Then Michael told Zeus that he wanted to go _**back **_to East Germany and get the formulas and research for Kinskov's mind control, and to get Maria out if he could. _Michael, String and I walked out of the conference room to prepare for the flight back, but I told String, "Wait a few minutes. Cait's still in there."

_What the heck is she talking to Marella about?_ I asked myself—I'd noticed Marella staying behind, and then I remembered—just as we walked out, I heard Caitlin whisper, "We need to talk. _Now." _And I remembered something else, too—the expression on Caitlin's face when Marella walked out with Michael. _Cait looked like she wanted to kill Marella,_ I said to myself. _Wonder what that's all about?_

_She'll tell us about it when she's ready,_ I figured a few minutes later when she came out of the conference room. A few hours later, after String and I re-armed Airwolf, we launched, headed back to East Germany. After a couple of refuelings from a KC-135, we were back over Krueger's castle, and String and Michael had gone in to grab the mind-control formulas, and try to get Maria out, which I thought was weird. _We heard Michael scream, and I heard the gunshot. She can't still be alive. I remembered something I told String while we were rearming the Lady._

"_String, she's dead," _I remembered saying.

"_I don't think so, Dom," String told me. _He proceeded to explain that he felt like Krueger and Maria were working together, in a plot to assassinate Zeus and as many members of the Committee as possible. And he also told me that Michael wanted to try to find the formulas that Krueger and Kinskov had used to brainwash him—maybe the FIRM's scientists could find an antidote, or somethin' like that. After what seemed like an eternity, Michael and String came out of the castle and ran to where I had Airwolf hovering, waiting for them.

Finally, String and Michael were back aboard, and I heard Caitlin call out, _"I've got MiGs coming on fast at eight o'clock!"_

String had reassumed command of Airwolf, and I had to wince at one point, when I saw a missile from one of the MiGs actually _turn_ as if it were following us, but String was still able to evade it and destroy both MiGs.

"_Scope's clean! Whoo-whee! Highway Patrol was _**never **_like that!" Caitlin exulted. I gotta admit, I half expected her to yell, "Yee-ha!" She _**is **_from Texas, after all._

"_Like what?" String demanded._

"_That dogfight!" Caitlin insisted. I had a feeling that String was trying to think of a way to tell Caitlin that she'd just imagined the whole thing – but I knew that wasn't gonna work. Not with Michael as a witness._

"_What dogfight?" I piped up. I figured I'd stick with String's story as long as I could._

"_Oh, no you don't! This time, _**I've **_got a witness! Now, they can't tell me that..." Then I heard Caitlin's voice break, and I wondered why she stopped talking in the middle of a sentence. Her next words answered the question that had intruded into my mind._

"_Michael, what's wrong?" she asked. I wondered how she knew Michael's name, but then I remembered—Zeus had called him by name just before Michael fired at him. String told Caitlin that Maria was dead. _

"_She was working with Krueger all along," Michael said, and String and I could both hear the sadness in his voice. Even though he didn't say it, I knew why Michael had gone in after Maria—he was in love with her. _Which, I have to admit, kinda blew a hole in my theory about Michael being in love with Marella, but then I thought to myself, _there's nothin' that says Maria wasn't an old girlfriend of Michael's, one that he's long over. 'Course, it doesn't make a difference now, I suppose._

"_I'm sorry," Caitlin said. Michael's next words were, surprisingly, directed towards String._

"_It couldn't be helped," Michael said. "I do know that, Hawke."_

_String glanced back to Michael and Caitlin, and gave Michael a small nod of acknowledgment. We flew on in silence for a few minutes, then I spoke up. I've always hated silence, bein' such a talkative person by nature, but when this one was broken by my grumbling stomach, I had to speak up._

"_I don't know about you guys, but I'm _**hungry. **_Whataya say we stop off for some beer and bratwurst, huh?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood as well as change the subject. I realized that I hadn't eaten anything since dinner last night, and now that I could relax, with the mission over, my stomach let me know how empty it really was._

"_Where?" String asked, incredulous._

"_Well, I dunno," I replied. "Any place that's got beer and bratwurst, I suppose!"_

"_Yeah, we can discuss our next mission," Caitlin said._

"_What mission?" Michael asked._

"_Oh, you know! Whatever you assign them to do next in this helicopter!" she replied._

"_**WHAT HELICOPTER?**_"_ Michael, String, and I all demanded, practically in unison. Personally, I didn't care if Caitlin never saw the inside of Airwolf again, even though I knew better. Now that she's flown in Airwolf, we'll never be able to deny she exists again—_**ever. **And_, if I know her, Caitlin will want to be part of the crew. I gotta admit, __Cait handled herself extremely well on this trip, and __me and String can always use a backup, in case something like this ever happens again._

We finally found a small cafe just outside of Munich, and String began making plans to set Airwolf down in a clearing about a mile away.

"_Hawke, are you _**crazy?"**_ Michael demanded. "You're just going to leave Airwolf out here, unguarded, while we go and have lunch?"_

"_We've done it before, Michael," String said, in a tone of voice that I hoped indicated to Michael that String didn't want to discuss it further. I winked at String, and I knew we were both thinking the same thing—that this would be a good way to irritate Michael without resorting to violence. But, I wasn't too comfortable with the idea of leaving my baby sitting in the middle of nowhere, with only a camouflage net covering her. Even though we were in West Germany, my words to Caitlin came back into my mind—"Honey, in Airwolf, we ain't _got _any friends. Remember that!" _

"_But, Hawke..." Michael said, then stopped. "Never mind." I think Michael recognized String's tone of voice, and decided not to press him any further on the matter. We finished covering Airwolf with a camouflage net, then hiked back into town to the cafe we had identified from the air._

_Once we were seated at an outdoor table, and Caitlin, Michael and I had ordered bratwurst and beer, and String ordered a salad, Michael turned to Caitlin. I realized he'd never met Cait face-to-face before, and I have to admit, I was a little worried about what he'd say._

"_Ah, this must be Dom's new employee. Miss O'Shannessy, correct?" Michael asked._

"_Sorry, Michael," String said as he shook his head. I realized String had never formally introduced Michael to Caitlin, which, I have to admit, struck me as a little weird. "Michael Coldsmith-Briggs, this is Caitlin O'Shannessy. Caitlin, this is Michael. Or, as we call him, 'Archangel.'" I knew, of course, that Cait knew Michael's name—she'd heard Zeus use it back in the Committee's meeting room—but she'd never met him face-to-face, either._

"_A pleasure, sir," Caitlin said, giving Michael a friendly smile._ Not quite the same way she smiled at String, but friendly enough.

"_Likewise, Miss O'Shannessy," Michael replied, shaking Caitlin's hand. "And thank you for all your help. I don't know if Hawke could have pulled this one off without you."_

_Much as I hated to admit it, Michael was right. If String hadn't brought Caitlin into the crew, we never woulda made it into East Germany _**once,**_ let alone twice. We would've either been forced down and captured, and Airwolf would have wound up in Soviet hands, or more likely, simply blasted out of the sky. Aloud, I said, "I hate to admit it, but I have to agree with you, Michael." I tipped my glass first to Caitlin, then to Archangel, and smiled at both of them._

"_You're welcome, sir," Caitlin said, and her tone of voice indicated she wasn't completely comfortable with knowing who Michael was. _

"_Miss O'Shannessy," Michael began again. I wondered if String was going to correct Michael and tell him it was okay to call her 'Caitlin,' or 'Cait'—after all, we don't call Michael 'sir,' for cryin' out loud. Just about the time I thought about saying something, Cait beat me to it._

"_Please, sir. Call me Caitlin," she said._

"_Fine, Caitlin. But, if we're not going to stand on formalities, please don't call me 'sir.' Neither Hawke nor Dominic does, after all. You may call me 'Michael,' or 'Archangel,' if you like. Caitlin, I hope you realize what Hawke has involved you in. And, I don't think I have to tell you to keep everything that happened, and everything you saw, between the four of us."_

"_No, Michael, you don't," Caitlin replied. "I know that what happened, and what I saw, has to be our little secret, and I accept that. I just hope you don't expect me to up and forget what I saw." _

"_Well, I won't say that it wouldn't bother me if you did forget about Airwolf, me, and everything you've seen, but I don't think that's possible," Michael said with a grin directed at Caitlin. "But, I have to say, you handled yourself as well as I've ever seen under the circumstances. Hawke and Dom must have taught you very well."_

"_They did," Caitlin said with a smile directed at String, which I could see made him feel uncomfortable._

"_By the way, Cait," I had to ask, "where the heck did that flight suit come from? I gotta admit it fits you pretty nicely, but I thought String and I had the only two flight suits." I noticed String and Michael both look at Caitlin, and I had a feeling they both wondered the same thing._

"_Oh, Dom. You remember a couple of weeks ago when that limousine came and picked me up? Well, that was Marella, and I guess she arranged the whole thing." I looked over at Michael and saw him smile and nod—I guessed that he knew about whatever Marella had arranged, but like so much with him and the FIRM, he wasn't telling. _

"_And, that's what you were lookin' so mad about?" I asked, not quite understanding everything._

"_Well, more the fact that Marella never explained that she works with Michael," Caitlin said, and I saw Michael nodding his understanding._

"_By the way, Dominic," Michael said, "I've been meaning to ask you—why did you defend Marella the way you did back at Knightsbridge?"_

"_Well, Michael," I said, "it just made me mad, hearin' Zeus basically tell Marella she was fired—okay, suspended—for what she did to tell us about what happened to you. I mean, I know rules are rules, like Zeus said, but..." I wasn't sure if Michael knew what I was tryin' to say, and I hoped he'd gotten the message._

"_I think I understand, Dominic," Michael said, "and thank you again. And, Zeus and I are going to have a discussion about some of the regulations and rules. I think you're right—Marella shouldn't suffer some kind of punishment for doing what she thought was right." I have to admit—I was shocked that Michael seemed to agree with me. It's not often that Michael agrees with me on much of anything, after all._

"_So I suppose you're going back to the hospital, Dom?" Michael asked a few minutes later._

"_Yeah," I said. "I gotta finish healing, you know. This mission hasn't been any fun, I tell ya that right now!" String, Caitlin, and even Michael laughed at that._

"_Well, Dominic. Please know how much I appreciate it," Michael said, then added, "and how much I appreciate your trying to defend Marella to Zeus." _That settled it, at least in my mind—if Marella's reaction the day she came and told us about Michael's capture didn't prove that she felt something romantic for him...then Michael's comment just then was all the evidence I needed. _And just like String with Caitlin, _I said to myself, _I hope Michael realizes how much Marella loves him._ _Wait a minute,_ I said to myself, thinking over something I'd thought a moment ago—_And just like String with Caitlin. _I mean, I know Cait cares about String as a _friend, _and vice-versa, but—I resolved to keep quiet until I had more evidence, but somethin' told me that Caitlin was lookin' at String as somebody more than just a friend. Once we finished eating and hiked back to where we landed, we all climbed back into Airwolf for the trip home, and I was more than happy to surrender the commander's chair to String and take the co-pilot's seat.

Later, back in the hospital bed, I thought about something that happened when Caitlin walked into the room wearing that flight suit. When I saw her in in the flight suit, I smiled and very subtly winked at String, then nodded in Caitlin's direction. String probably thought I was just noticing that the flight suit looked good on her (which of course, I had. And in all honesty, it _did _look good on her_. If I were 30 years younger,_ I remembered thinking.) But, I've gotta admit something here—I'm also worried about String—I mean, with the amount of abuse my body's taken recently, I realize I'm not gonna live forever, and it'd be nice to know somebody was lookin' after String when I'm gone. And, I have to admit that when I saw her smile at String back at that cafe, I thought Caitlin was lookin' at him with more affection than usual. _It might even be love, _I remember thinking to myself. _And Cait seems like she could prove String wrong about __some __other things,_ I said to myself, even as I remembered the conversation String and I had as we left Pope County that first time.

"_She was kinda _**cute, **_huh, String?" I asked._

"_Cute? She's a _**kid!"**_ String said, and he knew I didn't buy it._

"_Oh? I didn't know the Texas Highway Patrol let _**kids **_fly their choppers! Well, you know what they say." I replied._

"_What?" String demanded. I was more than happy to give him the answer._

"_They always get their man!" I replied, but something told me String would've been just as happy if I hadn't told him._

"_That's the _**Canadian Mounties!" **_String retorted, and I was glad he wasn't too mad at me._

"_Same principle!" I said with a laugh, then started singing "The Yellow Rose of Texas."_

String tried to get me to shut up, but I was determined to finish at least the first verse, which I did. When I closed my eyes and was finally able to get to sleep, I couldn't help but think that Cait has feelings for String, more than just wanting to be his friend. _From what he told me that kiss was like on the movie set a few months back, it sure sounded that way,_ I remember thinking to myself. I resolved, one way or another, that I'd do whatever I could to get String to see sense about Cait—_to see that she loves him. __At least, I _**think **_she loves him. __A__nd __more i__m__portant, __that it'd be okay if he loved her. _

I finally dropped into a painful, yet relaxed sleep, confident in what I'd set my mind to do. My last conscious thought was—_I just don't have any idea how I'm gonna do it. But...I'll figure something out. I always do._


	5. Chapter 5 Michael

_First Time_

A/N – This is an original idea, based around the S2 episode _Fallen Angel, _and, like _And **WHEN** Was The Wedding, _it will be told from several different points of view. Hope somebody enjoys it. This chapter marks the end of this little story arc...but, if anyone has any other episodes they'd like to see receive this type of treatment, PM me and we can discuss it. Enjoy this final chapter. – robertwnielsen

Disclaimer – Don't own 'em, just taking them out for another non-profit play date, since DPB and Universal won't anymore.

_Chap. 5 – Michael_

I have to be honest, I don't remember much of what happened in the beginning—I had snuck into East Germany to rescue a former lover of mine, Maria von Fuerster. She had gone on the KGB "white list," which to me meant she was living on borrowed time. You see, people on the "white list" are people who the KGB has marked for assassination. What I didn't know was that Comrade Kinskov and Karl Kruger were behind the whole thing.

I guess there are any number of reasons I didn't see through Kruger's plan—the fact that I've been chained to a desk for so long, and not actively involved in field work. The kind of work I usually leave for people like Gabrielle, and Marella, plus the fact that I had Maria on my mind. I had tried to bring her with me in Stockholm once, but Kruger had already seen to it that wasn't going to happen.

The machine they used on me was an interesting concept—I was strapped down in a water tank, and shots of a mind-altering drug were introduced into my system at various intervals and dosages. I still remember Kinskov saying, _"I want you to sleep, Michael"_ during one of the interrogation/programming sessions. I have to admit, I was completely unsure what Kinskov and Kruger were up to. Plus, I had Katerina in the back of my mind.

Katerina, my daughter with Maria, who was born shortly after the Stockholm incident – that's when I tried to bring Maria out the first time, and Kruger nearly killed me doing it. Katerina was born soon after that, and I was furious that Kruger had raised her for the past eleven years, but that was going to change if I could get Maria to come with me. We would have raised her together, if Maria would have had me, and if she'd come out with me in Stockholm. Now that I think back on it, I think that's part of the reason that this whole thing happened—Kruger and Kinskov were upset that the man who is now Deputy Director of a major intelligence organization slipped through their fingers, and now were willing to do whatever they could to get me back.

What I don't understand is _why._ I mean, it's not like I have any information that could be useful to them—I know for a fact that my section's been frozen out—All codes changed, all data erased. So anything that their torture might have gotten out of me was already obsolete before they even got it. I soon learned, however, that _information_ wasn't what Kruger was after.

When I learned that Maria and Kruger had become lovers, as she and I once were, I realized the full implications of Kruger's plan. She was never on the "white list"—she would have been dead long before I got there if that were true—that was just part of the plot to ensnare me. I have to admit, it was brilliantly planned, and executed. Any _rookie_ should have seen through it—I guess, as Kruger was so blunt as to point out, they were lucky I've been at the FIRM twenty years, and my instincts aren't what they once were.

When I wasn't hooked up in that crazy contraption of theirs, I had a lot of time to think...and one person kept coming to the forefront of my thoughts—_Marella._ The woman who's been like my right arm ever since she came to work for me a few years ago. I remember how, during the Red Star incident, I grabbed Marella and threw her down just as Moffet began firing on the base, and I must admit, I've had nightmares where I didn't manage to save her in time, and she died, sometimes there in my arms, and sometimes I was informed of her death in my hospital room, while I was recovering from the injuries that took my left eye, and left me with my permanent limp and need for a cane.

One day as I sat in my cell, something happened—I realized something that had been in the back of my mind for a long time—I _love her. I love Marella._ I don't know why it took me so long to figure it out. For Heaven's sakes, she's a beautiful woman, and I can't believe there aren't hundreds of men in the FIRM who haven't tried to ask her out. But then, they might be put off by the fact that she works so closely with me. People might think we already were in a relationship, or at the very least, that she had feelings for me. Or maybe they're just scared because of the fact that she works for me. _I seem to have that effect on people,_ I remembered saying to myself. _Scaring them to death._ About the only people I _don't _scare to death are Stringfellow Hawke, and Dominic Santini.

I finally made a decision a few days before Hawke came and rescued me—if I made it out of there, alive, I was going to tell Marella how I felt about her, and whatever happened afterward would happen. Of course, if she didn't feel the same about me that I did about her, I knew I'd lose her—there would be no way that she'd want to continue working as my aide under circumstances like that—and I wasn't sure if I could deal with that possibility, either personally, or professionally.

But at that moment, I had other things to worry about, mainly, how the hell I was going to get out of there. Considering where I was, I figured the only way I'd be getting out of here, alive, would be if Hawke and Dominic came with Airwolf to rescue me. I knew the East Germans, and the Russians, wouldn't be too crazy about a prisoner exchange for me, so rescue appeared at that point to be my best hope. And to be honest, it was a small one, considering that our section had been closed. I didn't even know if Marella would have been able to contact Hawke and Dominic under those circumstances. I supposed the only way I'd find out would be if—And, that's when I heard the explosion, like an air-to-ground missile slamming into Kruger's compound, even as I was hooked into the brainwashing machine for another round of what I perceived to be torture.

I couldn't really tell what was going on, other than all the technicians and doctors were running around like the proverbial headless chickens, along with a good deal of the soldiers, and I swore I heard small arms and anti-aircraft fire, along with other weapons explosions. I didn't know what was going on until I looked up and saw...

"_Hawke?"_ I gasped. Then, I saw her.

"_Maria?" _I asked.

"_Yes, Michael. Maria,_" she said as she and Hawke each grabbed one of my arms and pulled me to my feet. They led me through the castle, outside, and I saw Airwolf in the sky above us, knocking out missile and cannon emplacements, along with machine gun nests. Then the three of us ran to where Dominic had Airwolf hovering, and I heard him shout _"Get aboard! Get aboard!" _over the weapons fire. I knew Hawke had climbed into the countermeasure specialist, or copilot's seat, and I climbed into a seat behind him, seeing someone in Dominic's usual spot in the Electronic Data Command Center who I didn't recognize at first...but then I saw the eyes behind the flight helmet, and I knew who it was from a photo we had back at FIRM headquarters—Caitlin O'Shannessy, Dom's new employee at Santini Air. I was at first puzzled as to why she was there, but then I realized _someone_ had to take Dom's place at the EDCC when he took command of Airwolf while Hawke was in Kruger's compound trying to rescue me. I felt myself being pulled into Airwolf, and knew Hawke had tried to pull Maria in behind me, but that's when I heard the single gunshot and saw her collapse onto the pavement. I tried to get out and rescue her, but Caitlin pulled me back in, and Hawke had already taken over command of Airwolf and turned us away from the castle.

I have to admit something here—I was puzzled at the lack of resistance from the East German air force as we made our way out of Magdenburg. I had expected a full-on dogfight at least until we reached the border, but no one even questioned what we were doing in East German airspace. A few hours later, after we took a final refueling from a KC-135 tanker, which Marella must have arranged, Hawke said,

"_Michael. When we land, give me your sidearm."_

"_What?" _I demanded, not exactly sure what Hawke was thinking. _"Why?"_

"_Didn't you notice how easy our escape was?"_ Hawke demanded.

"_You call that easy?" _I countered.

"_Yes," _Hawke said. _"Either Kinskov has the worst gunners on the planet, or they weren't trying to hit Airwolf. Plus, doesn't the fact that we didn't encounter any elements of the East German air force strike you as just a bit odd?" _Hawke had just articulated what I'd been thinking—that it was very odd that we encountered no East German resistance to our escape.

"_What was that apparatus we found you in, Michael?" _Hawke wanted to know.

"_I—I'm not sure, Hawke," _I answered him, honestly. _"I think it was some kind of brainwashing device, but I'm not exactly sure."_

Once we'd landed Airwolf, before we met with Zeus and the Committee, as requested, I handed over my sidearm to Hawke, and he replaced the ammunition in it with blanks. _"At least, if I'm right, you won't be arrested for murder," _Hawke said when he handed the weapon back to me. I noticed the full upper body cast that Dominic was in, and I knew he had to be in incredible pain. Before we went to meet with Zeus and the Committee, however, I excused myself and met up with Marella in my office.

"_Welcome home, Michael," Marella said, walking over to me and giving me a warm embrace._

"_Thank you, Marella," I replied, and smiled at her, then my tone turned entirely businesslike. "Hawke, Caitlin, and Dom are waiting outside. Shall we?"_

"_Yes, sir," _Marella said, and the two of us walked out and met Hawke, Dominic, and Caitlin, and I noticed something—Caitlin was giving Marella a very angry, almost hostile, look. I resolved to ask Marella about it later, but knew I had no time as the doors to the meeting room opened, and Marella and I led the procession in. She followed me right up to my chair at the far end of the table, and I noticed that Hawke, Dominic, and Caitlin had taken up a position right behind Zeus. There was a small smattering of applause as I took my seat, and noticed Marella at her familiar position at my left shoulder, then Zeus spoke.

"_Welcome home, Archangel." I heard Zeus say. "I'm afraid we were going to have to write you off for good, this time."_

"_I always seem to make it back, Zeus. However this time, I did have just a _**little bit **_of help." I nodded at Caitlin, Dom and Hawke._

"_Yes. Miss O'Shannessy, Mr. Hawke, Mr. Santini. We want to thank you for your bravery and valor. Marella, however, will have to be suspended, until a review board can determine whether she is capable of following orders." _I have to admit that on the one hand, this surprised me—I can't believe that Zeus and the Committee were going to rest high and mighty on rules and regulations, knowing that if Marella hadn't broken those rules, I wouldn't be sitting in that room. But on the other hand, rules are rules—hell, _I_ helped create them. Zeus, as head of the FIRM, was just doing his job to enforce them.

"_Of all the hypocritical bull!" Dom shouted. _I was surprised to hear that—I don't think Dominic Santini has ever stuck up for Marella to anyone, let alone Zeus. That took some _guts,_ I thought to myself, even as I worried that Dom might do something he'd regret. Fortunately, Hawke tried to silence his friend._ "Hey, Dom!"_

"_Aah! Well, somebody has to tell this egotistical bag of hot air where to go!" _In the short time I've known Dominic Santini, I've learned that his temper is probably the worst I've ever encountered—even worse than Stringfellow Hawke's—and I was glad I wasn't on the receiving end of it. Just then, Marella added her own voice to the discussion.

"_Dominic, he's right! Rules are rules!" Marella said from her position next to me._

"_If you believe that, then you're as sick as he is!" Dom shot back._

"If she believed it, she wouldn't have come to you and Hawke!" I shouted, and I found myself wrestling with a question I'd had when I was in my cell in East Germany—_how does Marella feel about me? _Just like that, I was snapped back to reality when Zeus spoke again.

"_This interview is _**over," **_Zeus stated coldly. _I've heard Zeus' voice sound cold before, but his tone just then was the coldest I'd ever heard.

"_Not quite! I want my staff back. And full access to FIRM facilities. That means _**complete restoration **_of my division, _**including Marella," **_ I insisted._

"_I said the interview is _**over," **_Zeus repeated, and his voice seemed to me to grow even colder._

"_I think your title has gone to your head, Zeus!" I shouted._

"_That's enough!" Zeus shouted back._

"_No, it's _**not enough! **_You would've left me out there to _**rot, **_after 20 years of loyalty!" I roared, feeling something in my head, like a voice. Kruger's voice, and it was telling me to assassinate Zeus and as many members of the Committee as I could._

"_Those are the rules, Michael. _**You **_helped create them! And now that I'm head of the FIRM, _**I'm **_here to enforce them!" Zeus shouted back, and angrily pointed at the desk to emphasize his point._

Zeus and I stared at each other across the table for a moment, then I reached into my jacket, pulled out a 9mm pistol, and calmly shot Zeus. Everyone in the room began to panic, and four of the FIRM's security guards rushed in, two grabbing hold of Marella, and the other two grabbing me. "Michael Coldsmith-Briggs..." one of the guards holding me began, and I knew I was being arrested for Zeus' murder. But then one of the other guards holding Marella noticed Zeus beginning to move, and the guards released us both.

"_I—I'm all right," Zeus stammered. "What happened?"_

"I'll answer that," Hawke said, stepping forward. "Michael had been programmed to try to assassinate you, Zeus. That was part of what happened to him in East Germany. I figured it out after we escaped—it was too easy. Either Kinskov has the worst gunners in the world, or they weren't trying to hit Airwolf. They **wanted **us to escape, so that Michael could come back here and kill you, and probably a few more members of the Committee. Once I figured out what was going on, I substituted blanks for the ammo in Michael's gun."

"Thank you, Hawke," I said, nodding his head towards Hawke and his friends. "That's two more I owe you."

"I'll send you a bill," Hawke said, and I saw Hawke grin at Marella and me, which was one of the few times I'd ever seen him smile. Then I told Zeus that I wanted to go **back **to East Germany and get the formulas and research for Kinskov's mind control, and to get Maria out if I could, even though Hawke tried at length to explain that Kruger had shot her at point-blank range—there was no way, at least in Hawke's mind, that she was still alive.

"What if Kruger was firing blanks, just like I did?" I demanded, and I could see that my question had started Hawke thinking. Just then, Marella pulled me aside and said, "Michael, when you get back, we need to talk." And, I could tell from the tone of her voice, not to mention her expression, that the subject on her mind was not going to be about FIRM business.

"All right," I nodded and left the room with Hawke and Dominic, but noticed Caitlin staying behind. _Wonder what that's about? _I asked myself as the doors closed behind us. Then I remembered Caitlin's expression when we walked out of my office. _I suppose she'll tell us about it, someday,_ I said to myself when she came out of the meeting room a few minutes later. Not long afterward, we were back in Airwolf, headed for East Germany.

I knew where the serum was stored, of course, and I began collecting bottles while Hawke went looking for the formulas, so that our scientists could study them and hopefully formulate an antidote. As I was putting serum bottles into a bag, I heard Kruger's voice. _"Michael! How? HOW?"_

"_Hawke figured it out,_" I said. _"My rescue was too easy. After all those years in 'Nam, he realized that either you have the worst gunners in the world, or they weren't trying to hit Airwolf."_

"_But YOU ASSASSINATED ZEUS!" _Kruger shouted.

"_I tried," _I said. "_Hawke put blanks in my gun."_

"_Ah," _Kruger said, a sadistic smile on his face. "_Then the serum works!"_

"_It works,"_ I said. _"I did everything you programmed me to do, only I fired blanks."_

"_Put those serum bottles back!" _I ignored him, even with the gun pointed at me, even as I cast my eyes towards my own gun, laying just a few inches away. _"I said to put those back!"_

Just then, I heard Hawke's voice. _"I found the formulas, Michael."_

"_Hawke, look out!"_ I shouted, and Kruger turned his gaze on Hawke, which gave me the opening I needed to grab my pistol and shoot Kruger, killing him instantly.

_"Let's go!"_ he said, and we turned to leave, and then I saw her standing there with a gun pointed right at Hawke and me.

"_Maria?"_ I said, incredulous. I think Hawke was even more surprised than I was that Maria was still alive—after all, I was the one who suggested that Kruger might have been firing blanks when he shot her, but I couldn't believe, after what we'd meant to each other, that she'd just coldly shoot me.

"_Give me that book and the pouch," Maria said. _

"_No." _I stated clearly, my own weapon aimed at her. I didn't want to shoot her, but I would if I had to. And I didn't want to think what Hawke might do_._

"_I can't let you go with it. I swear, I'll kill you, Michael," Maria said, _aiming her gun at me.

"Will you, Maria?" I asked her, as I lowered my gun and tried with my eyes to communicate that in spite of everything, I still loved her, and still wanted her with me and Katerina. I noticed her squeezing the trigger of her gun slowly, so that none of us would know when the trigger would break—and then, I heard the gunshot, not from her gun aimed at me, but from Hawke's, which was aimed under his arm at Maria. This time, knowing what an expert shot Stringfellow Hawke was, and that he had live ammo in his gun, I had little doubt that she was dead, and that was confirmed a second later when I checked for her pulse. Somberly, I followed Hawke out to the roof where Airwolf was waiting, and as I surveyed the damage around us, I began wondering what these two missions would end up costing the FIRM, counting the costs of the refueling aircraft, and all the ordnance Dom and Hawke were expending. A few minutes later, we were back in Airwolf and headed towards safe territory, after a minor dogfight with the East German air force, and Caitlin's nerves finally got the best of her when it was over.

"_Scope's clean! Whoo-whee! Highway Patrol was _**never **_like that!" she exulted._

"_Like what?" Hawke demanded._

"_That dogfight!" Caitlin insisted. I began trying to think of a way to tell Caitlin that she'd just imagined the whole thing—but I knew that would not be possible. _

"_What dogfight?" Dom piped up, trying to keep up the secrecy as best he could—but failing miserably. _

"_Oh, no you don't! This time, _**I've **_got a witness! Now, they can't tell me that..." When I heard Caitlin's voice break, I saw that she had turned towards me, and I knew that she was going to try to use me as a witness so that Hawke couldn't deny what had happened, but I was in no mood for that sort of discussion. A few seconds later, her voice confirmed my suspicions._

"_Michael, what's wrong?" she asked. I almost asked how she knew my name, but then I remembered—Zeus called me by name just before I fired at him. And I'm sure Hawke and Dominic have mentioned me._

"_Maria's dead." Hawke answered, knowing I was extremely upset._

"_She was working with Krueger all along," I said, and I knew the others could hear the sadness in my voice._

"_I'm sorry," Caitlin said, and I nodded slightly at her, then turned my next words to Hawke._

"_It couldn't be helped," I said. "I do know that, Hawke."_

_Hawke glanced back at Caitlin and me, and gave me a small nod of acknowledgment. We flew on in silence for a few minutes, then Dom spoke up._

"_I don't know about you guys, but I'm _**hungry. **_Whataya say we stop off for some beer and bratwurst, huh?" Dom asked, and I knew he was trying to lighten the mood._

"_Where?" Hawke asked, incredulous._

"_Well, I dunno," Dom replied. "Any place that's got beer and bratwurst, I suppose!"_

"_Yeah, we can discuss our next mission," Caitlin said._

"_What mission?" I asked._

"_Oh, you know! Whatever you assign them to do next in this helicopter!" she replied._

"_**WHAT HELICOPTER?**_"_ Hawke, Dom and I all demanded, practically in unison. If I can help it, Caitlin's going to forget everything she's learned about me, Airwolf, and this part of Hawke's life. But something tells me that's not going to be nearly as easy as it sounded. Well_, I remembered saying to myself, _it might be nice for there to be a backup in case something happened to Hawke or Dominic._

We finally found a small cafe just outside of Munich, and Hawke began making plans to set Airwolf down in a clearing about a mile away.

"_Hawke, are you _**crazy?"**_ I demanded. "You're just going to leave Airwolf out here, unguarded, while we go and have lunch?"_

"_We've done it before, Michael," Hawke said, in a tone of voice that I had learned a long time ago meant that Hawke didn't want to discuss it further. Of course, I knew that if anyone found Airwolf and got aboard her, they couldn't start her without the security code, which meant they'd be trapped inside when we got back._

"_But, Hawke..." I said, then stopped. "Never mind." I recognized Hawke's tone of voice, and decided not to press any further on the matter. We finished covering Airwolf with a camouflage net, then hiked back into town to the cafe we had identified from the air._

_Once we were seated at an outdoor table, and Caitlin, Dom and I had ordered bratwurst and beer, and Hawke ordered a salad, I turned to Caitlin, and I realized this would be our first face-to-face meeting._ Now that I had seen her face without the flight helmet, I realized she was very pretty...pretty enough, in fact, that if I were twenty years younger, and Marella wasn't such a large part of my life, I might have been interested in her. But I got a feeling about her when I looked into her eyes and said, _"Ah, this must be Dom's new employee. Miss O'Shannessy, correct?" I asked._

"_Sorry, Michael," Hawke said, shaking his head. _I think he realized he'd never formally introduced us. _But he really didn't have a chance,_ I said to myself_. _

"_Michael Coldsmith-Briggs, this is Caitlin O'Shannessy. Caitlin, this is Michael. Or, as we call him, 'Archangel.'" _

"_A pleasure, sir," Caitlin said, giving me a friendly smile._

"_Likewise, Miss O'Shannessy," I replied, shaking Caitlin's hand. "And thank you for all your help. I don't know if Hawke could have pulled this one off without you."_

"_You're welcome, sir," Caitlin said, and something in the way she said it told me that she wasn't entirely comfortable knowing who I was._

"_Miss O'Shannessy," I began again, about to tell her that Dominic and Hawke have _**never, **_ever called me 'sir,' and so I didn't expect her to._

"_Please, call me Caitlin," she said._

"_Fine, Caitlin. But, if we're not going to stand on formalities, please don't call me 'sir.' Neither Hawke nor Dominic does, after all. You may call me 'Michael,' or 'Archangel,' if you like. Caitlin, I hope you realize what Hawke has involved you in. And, I don't think I have to tell you to keep everything that happened, and everything you saw, between the four of us," _I said, hoping that my tone of voice would convey my concerns.

"_No, Michael, you don't," Caitlin replied. "I know that what happened, and what I saw, has to be our little secret, and I accept that. I just hope you don't expect me to up and forget what I saw." _

"_Well, I won't say that it wouldn't bother me if you did forget about Airwolf, me, and everything you've seen, but I don't think that's possible," I said with a grin directed at Caitlin. "But, I have to say, you handled yourself as well as I've ever seen under the circumstances. Hawke and Dom must have taught you very well."_

"_They did," Caitlin said with a smile directed at Hawke, which I saw made him feel extremely uncomfortable. _I began to wonder if there wasn't something more than friendship between Stringfellow Hawke and Caitlin O'Shannessy, or at least whether Caitlin had feelings about Hawke that were more than just friendship. _Kind of like the way I feel about Marella, _I thought to myself, _especially the way her eyes light up_ _at the mention of Hawke's name_. I thought about telling Caitlin about the curse Hawke feels like he has—the one where anyone he loves, or might love, will die—but I decided against it.

Then, Dominic asked a question that had been bothering me, also. _"By the way, Cait," Dom had to ask, "where the heck did that flight suit come from? I gotta admit, it fit pretty nicely. But I thought String and I had the only two flight suits." I noticed String looking at Caitlin at the same time I did, and I had a feeling we both wondered the same thing._

"_Oh, Dom. You remember a couple weeks ago when that limousine came and picked me up? Well, that was Marella, and I guess she arranged the whole thing." _Dom looked over at me and saw me smile and nod—I remembered how Marella had left the office one afternoon a couple of weeks ago, but not told me, Laura, or anyone else where she was going._ I guess now I know,_ I said to myself as we finished our lunch. _Something else I owe Marella. _ After hearing about that, it didn't take me long to figure out why Caitlin had given Marella such a dirty look at Knightsbridge—_Marella didn't tell Caitlin she works for me. No wonder Caitlin looked so upset,_ I remember thinking to myself. Then, I decided to ask Dom about something I had been wondering about. _"By the way, Dominic," _I said, _"I've been meaning to ask you—why did you defend Marella the way you did back at Knightsbridge?" _Dominic proceeded to tell me that he felt like Marella was only doing what she thought was right—which, in all honesty, she was, and that he felt like Marella shouldn't be punished for what she did. I thought about what Dominic said for a minute, then I said, _"I think I understand, Dominic. And, thank you again. And, Zeus and I are going to have a discussion about some of the regulations and rules. I think you're right—Marella shouldn't suffer some kind of punishment for doing what she thought was right." _Just like that day at Knightsbridge, I was surprised Dominic Santini and I had agreed on something—_and, I don't intend to let him forget it, either,_ I said to myself as we finished lunch. After we ate lunch, we hiked back to Airwolf and, after removing the camouflage net, started her up for the journey home.

A few days later, with our division restored and everyone home safe, I surprised Marella one day after work with an invitation to my house, for dinner.

"You did say we needed to talk," I said back at my home, when I noticed Marella's expression.

"Yes, Michael, I did," Marella replied, trying to relax. "Michael, that woman. Maria. Were you...?" From her tone of voice, I instinctively knew the last word that she left unspoken—_lovers.__ But, she has to know. I can't lie to her about something like that,_ I said to myself.

"At one time, yes," I said. "We were lovers when I was a field agent with the CIA, before the FIRM was established."

"I see," Marella said, and something in her tone of voice just then betrayed something in her emotions.

"Marella," I said, concerned, "it's a long time over. Maria was working with Kruger to try and capture me. And anyway, Maria's dead. Hawke shot her, just before she would have killed me. But, why would you ask me a question like that?"

Marella couldn't say anything, so she pulled me closer to her and kissed me. I was shocked at first, both at the intensity of the kiss, and the fact that she'd kissed me at all, but finally I allowed myself to relax in her arms and return the kiss, knowing that this was exactly what I had wanted for a long time.

"Michael," Marella said after she had pulled us apart and found her voice, "I have something I need to tell you. I—I love you. I have for a long time, and when you went missing..." I heard her voice crack and did the only thing I knew to do, reaching out once again and enfolding her in my arms, knowing that I wanted nothing more than to hold her, just like that, for the rest of our lives.

"Marella," I whispered, pulling her closer to me, "I—I love you, too. I have for a long time. I just never knew the right way to tell you." I hoped Marella could tell how embarrassed I was, but her next words allayed all my fears magnificently.

"Michael," she said as we held each other, "I understand. I mean, I never knew the right way to tell _you _about _my _feelings, either. So, we're even, okay?" She smiled up at me, and I knew her smile was not the smile of a co-worker, but the special smile that a woman saves for the man she loves, and I felt something in my heart that I hadn't felt for a long time—the deep, abiding love that I knew was there for Marella, but I had just not allowed it to rise to the surface, because I didn't know how she felt about me.

"Okay, Marella," I replied, and smiled back at her. "But this is going to change some things. We—we'll have to be careful around the office, especially if we're dealing with Zeus."

"Michael," she said, and tightened her arms around me, "there are couples who work together at Knightsbridge—there's no rules against employees dating, even if one is the other's direct supervisor," I knew that, of course—I wrote most of those rules, after all—but I also knew it would not be good from a PR standpoint, if the news got out that the Deputy Director of the FIRM and his number one aide were carrying on like a couple of lovestruck teenagers.

I heard Marella say, "Don't worry, Michael. The fact that we're getting closer personally won't affect how I behave around you at the office. I'll be able to separate our personal relationship from work. Unless," she said, and I noticed her expression turning decidedly sultry, "your front door is locked. I believe the walls in your office are soundproofed, correct?"

I knew Marella saw the light come into my good eye. "You are observant, Marella. And, that will definitely come in handy," I said, pulling us closer together. Then he added, "Two things will come in handy—your powers of observation, and the soundproofed walls in my office." Then I leaned down and kissed Marella again, more passionately this time, and I knew I wanted her. More than I've ever wanted any woman ever, including Maria. _But not just as a lover,_ I said to myself before taking Marella upstairs to my bedroom so we could make love properly, _I want her by my side always. As my wife, my partner, my best friend—and, my lover. _Then I felt Marella's lips on mine again, and I knew there would be no more time—or opportunity—for us to speak, for a while.


End file.
